486 



MASSENA PARTRIDGE. 



evening during short intervals, for about an hour. When the brood is grown and dispersed, 

 the call is said to be qua-el, qua-el. Like the other species, it feeds on insects and berries. It 

 is so tame that it fearlessly resorts to the Mexican villages to feed with the poultry around 

 the ranches, and readily becomes partly domesticated. When pursued, it rarely flies, but 

 trusts to its feet as the safest aid to escape. It raises two and, sometimes, three broods in a 

 season. A single brood sometimes has twenty young. It is said to have three distinct notes : 

 the common cry, a single mellow clear clink, with a metallic resonance, then a clear loud 

 energetic whistle, resembling the syllables Jcillirik, Tcillirik, heard mostly in the pairing season, 

 and is analogous to the Bob- White of the common Quail. The third is the love song, which, 

 Dr. Coues says, is most unmusical. It is uttered by the male while the mate is incubating. 



CALIFORNIA QUAIL. Lopltortyx catifornica. 



This song is poured forth at sunrise and at sunset, from the topmost twig near the spot where 

 his mate is sitting, while with outstretched neck and drooping wings, and plume negligently 

 dangling, he gives utterance to his odd, guttural notes. 



The flight of this Quail is remarkably rapid, even, and direct. 



SCALED or BLUE PARTRIDGE (Callipepla squamata). This species inhabits the entire 

 valley of the Rio Grande, which embraces every variety of climate. It is always resident 

 where found. It is wild and watchful, and exceedingly swift of foot, rivalling all other 

 species in this respect, and seldom or never resorting to flight for escape. Its quality as an 

 edible is superior. Quite unlike other species, it seems to be intractable, resisting all attempts 

 at domestication, though in Mexico it is said to be in the habit of visiting the ranches to pick 

 up grains. 



MASSENA PARTRIDGE (Cyrtonyx massena) has somewhat the same range of habitat as 

 the preceding, along the valley of the Eio Grande. It is said to be much more retiring than 

 other species, living far from the habitations of man, and preferring thickly-wooded places. 

 Its habits are quite different from all others. Its peculiar form is owing to a habit of carrying 



