ii6 Allen's naturalist's library. 



tion of New Mexico and Southern x^iizona, extending south 

 into Mexico. . . . 



"According to my own observations, the Scaled Partridge is 

 found most abundantly on the high plateaus bordering on the 

 principal streams of the regions under consideration, reaching 

 an altitude of from 1,500 to nearly 7,000 feet. It shuns tim- 

 bered country, and in Southern Arizona, where I have frequently 

 met with these birds, they seemed to me to prefer the most 

 barren and dryest portions of that scantily-watered territory. 

 I invariably found them back in the foot-hills and mesas, from 

 two to five miles distant from the river beds, which are generally 

 dry for the greater part of the year. . . . 



''From the repelling nature of the country it generally 

 frequents, it is naturally hunted very little ; still, I found it 

 exceedingly shy and wary, and very difficult to approach, far 

 more so than Gambel's Partridge. It prefers to trust almost en- 

 tirely to its legs for escape, and is generally successful, being an 

 expert and swift runner, dodging in and out among the bushes 

 with great ease and dexterity, and is consequently soon lost to 

 sight. The covey generally follow a leader, Indian-file fashion. 

 Its habits seem, however, to differ somewhat in other parts 

 of its range." {Bendire) 



Mr. E. W. Nelson furnishes the following observations 

 about this species. He says : — " In many instances I have 

 found them far from water, but they make regular visits to the 

 watering-places. . . . They are very difficult to flush, 

 owing to the rapidity with which they run through the bushes 

 and other vegetation. When flushed, they scatter, and aftei 

 flying a short distance, alight, and run on as before. As soon 

 as the alarm is over, the old birds reassemble the flock by a 

 low call-note. 



" In the latter part of summer and early fall they gather into 

 coveys, often containing several broods, as I observed in 1882, 

 in the valley of the Gila River, near Clifton, Arizona. At this 

 season they frequented the low bare hill-sides or the now dry 



