eigen Ur. UPB OeNe Be Up LIL nero N 13 
The female incubates from 12 to 16 (the average is 13) golden-brown, 
unspotted eggs while the male, attentive and watchful, is on guard. Both 
parents are active in the care and rearing of the young. If the female dis- 
appears, the male may take over and hatch the eggs. The little striped, 
downy youngsters are bouncing balls of fluff with trifling top-knots. 
It is said that these birds are readily alarmed and that they post 
sentinels when they are feeding or dusting in exposed places. The sentinel 
is frequently changed. When frightened, the birds usually run, but when 
they do take flight, they flush with a sudden whirring departure and scatter 
widely. 
The food of the California Quail is largely vegetable and includes leaves 
and roots in addition to seeds and some insect food. The bird has decreased 
notably in the past century. If even a very small percentage of growing 
grain were left unharvested, it would carry several coveys of quail through 
a hard winter. The California Quail (within its range) is common, and, 
where protected, lives tamely around ranches. It is a popular bird of farm 
land and range country and also is to be found in city parks. It is adaptable 
and is at home from the humid coast belt to the edge of the Mohave desert. 
This is by far the most important game bird in Baja California. 
Although many thousands of birds are killed annually in the foothills back 
of Tijuana and Ensenada, the numbers there have not diminished. The 
species is prolific and can withstand an annual harvest of perhaps more 
than half of the fall population without prejudicing the next year’s crop. 
927 Brummel Street, Evanston, Illinois 
ft FT fT 
PLANS ANNOUNCED FOR 1965 |. A.S. ANNUAL MEETING 
Peter Petersen, Jr., Chairman of the May 1965 Annual Meeting of the 
Illinois Audubon Society, described his plans for the big event of the 
coming year at the September meeting of the I. A. S. Board at Kickapoo 
State Park. We will meet concurrently with the Iowa Ornithologist’s Union. 
Tri-City Bird Club will act as the host. There will be an art exhibit with 
pictures by Roger Tory Peterson and other well-known bird artists at 
the new Davenvort Museum. Alfred M. Bailey, a Life Member of the 
I. A. S.. will show his motion picture on “Birds of the Galapagos.” Field 
trip routes are being laid out to cover both sides of the Mississippi River 
and a number of nearby state and county parks. The newly completed 
expressway from Chicago to Moline will make easy driving for members 
from the northeast corner of the state. Members were urged to set aside 
the week-end of May 14-16 for an outstanding meeting. 
A f & ia 
I.A.S. LOSES TWO LIFE MEMBERS 
With deep regret we report the death of two Life Members of the Illinois Audubon 
Society this past autumn. Gone are Mrs. Elizabeth C. Starrett of Cos Cob, Conn., and 
Miss Juliet Goodrich of Chicago. We send our sympathy to their families. Both will 
be missed. 
