Page:Condor14(4).djvu/30

14.0 THE CONDOR Vol XIV mum numbers, the exact amount being dependent largely cfn the death rate and consequently on the locality. The great danger of exterminating' the quail by hunting lies in the excessive amount o shooting which is seen in certain parts of the state brought about by the use of improved firearms. and the augmented nmnber of sportsmen. As can be seen by stu.dying the graph, the open season should come during the winter months,--after the young have become full grown, and ?at the time when the natural mortality is large. A lengthening of the season to include too many of the late winter months would result in the destruction of those birds most necessary for the retention of normal numbers. Fall shooting would allow the killing of half-grown birds. Winter shooting, if kept within bounds, will permit the quail not only to hold their own but to increase. The months of November and December seem best fitted for the open season. A shortening of the season to these two months would doubtless improve conditions in many localities. The present bag limit may be too large in some parts of the state, especially in those parts where the quail are known to be on the decrease. The closing of the season for a few years, or the creation of a weekly bag limit, might be sufficient to improve the status of the quail in these particular localities. Short- ening the season too much only concentrates the shooting and seldom improves conditions. The creation of a weekly bag limit, Or the closing of the season for a brief period of years would effectively cut down the toll taken by the hunter. Where there is a marked depletion in numbers the closing of the open season seems the most sensible way of meeting the situation. The suggestion that new blood is needed is hardly borne out by the facts already brought out: Our native stock is apparently in good health and only depleted in numbers. A study of local conditions affording a knowledge of th4 death rate seems the most scientific way of dealing with the problem, and this method will doubt- less be the method used in the future. When the amount of shooting is regu- lated by the natural death rate there will be no diminution in nmnbers of the California valley quail on account of the hunter. It should be remembererl that the hunter is probably one of the most important of many factors governinT numbers. and that the only way to quickly increase numbers is to cut down tht t911 claime d by the hunter. SUMMARY California valley quail have been greatly reduced in numbers in some parts of the state. In other parts these birds have increasd in numbers during the last ten years, whereas in still other parts their numbers have neither decreased or increased. Many factors govern the increase or decrease of birds, chief of which are: Food supply, cover, predatory mammals and birds, disease, and the hunter. Food supply is probably, in the last analysis, the most important of the factors governing numbers undei' natural co.nditions, for it is a well-recognized fact that both animals and plants will increase up to the limit of their food supply. Predatory mammals and birds act as a check on the numbers of quail and