ODDS and ENDS. I'm going to take a moment to answer some questions left by Dale. First, about the logistics of the house, oleanders, trees, etc.: the above picture shows the house from the front. The house faces (very roughly south). There are lines of oleanders along the property lines to both the east and the west (right and left, respectively, as you face the house).

The dorm tree is just to the left of the front porch. The olive tree, which you can't see in this picture, is on the west side of the house.

I'm pretty sure that the large family of quail that I used to think were roosting in the oleanders to the east (but now think are roosting in the evergreens by my eastern neighbors' front porch) is the same family I've been seeing all along. I think this because it seems to be rare for so many quail to grow to near adulthood in one family. (Most families seem to have just two or possibly three grown chicks.) I see one or at most two such very large families out by the quail block. I think it's the same guys.

As for the topknots on the quail: the males have dangling, thick black topknots that I like to refer to as fishing lures, because that is what they look like to me. The females have more slender topknots that tend to be more upright. The males have black faces with reddish-brown caps, the females have gray faces. Check this great Wikipedia article for excellent photos and lots more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambel%27s_Quail.