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 I July, 1912 NOTES ON WADING IBIRDS OF BARR LAKE REGION, COLORADO 131 the nest in a single instance. For the most part they remained at a distance call- ing loudly, and only in one instance did I see a parent simulate a broken wing to lure the intruder away from the nest. We found one brood of four young which had just hatched and had not left the nest. They are beautiful little striped creatures, and become very quick and active almost as soon as they are dry. They run with surprising speed, and the note even of the tiniest chicks is the.exact counterpart of the parent's note, on a smaller scale. The nests, if they could be called such, showed little variation except as to location, but we found them equally common in damp marshy loca- tions (although in all such cases the nesting sites were perfectly dry) and out amid the cactus and rabbit brush of the dry prairie. The parent of one nest which we had under observation died upon her nest and during the week between our visits, a colony of Burying Beetles buried eggs and parent until only the tip of the tail and one wing showed above the surface of the ground. The birds began to gather in flock's the last week in July but did not depart for the south until late in October. THE PRESENT AND FUTURE STATUS OF THE CALIFORNIA VALLEY QUAIL By HAROLD C. BRYANT Fellow in Applied Zoology on the l*ish and Game Commission l*ounda'tion In the University of California WITH MAP AND DIAGRAM URING the past year several circulars have been issued by the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture calling attention to the fact that certain of our native birds, and espe- cially the game birds, appear to be diminishing in numbers. In. the annual re- port of the Chief of the Biological Survey for 1911 this statement is made: "The quail and prairie chicken are favorite and legitimate objects of pursuit by sports- men, but they have been so ruthlessly pursued that they are now generally scarce and in many localities practically extinct." With the present agitation in regard to the conservation of our national resources, it naturally follows that sportsmen as well as others are becoming deeply interested in the conservation of game. California has been so well supplied with game that she has been rather slow to wake up to the fact that she must needs look to the future in this regard. The past two decades have seen the practical extinction of such big game as the grizzly bear, elk,,and prong- horn antelope. Sharp-tailed grouse have not been seen in the state for many years, and the grouse and sage-hen have been greatly reduced in numbers in many parts of the state. , In line with this rise of interest in game conservation has followed much discussion as to the present status of the California valley quail. The general opinion is that these birds have greatly decreased in numbers. It is the pur- pose of this paper t9 present what knowledge we have as to the present status of this quail in California, to discuss the factors governing the increase-or