THE SCALED PARTRIDGE. 21 



ried or chased by a Hawk. The young utter a i)hTiiitive "peep-peep," very 

 iinu-h Hke young cliickens. Like the rest of the Partridge tribe tliey are 

 ;ihk^ to run about as soon as hatched. 



Mr. W. H. Cobb, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, informs me "that in this 

 part of the Territory this species is a sort of seini-migrant. The greater por- 

 tion of tlie birds move to tlie liiglier mesas and foothills of the mountains to 

 l)reed, and during the cold weather return to the river bottoms where, in favor- 

 able localities, a few remain throughout the year." 



Mr. W. PI D. Scott found this species in great abundance in a little val- 

 ley west of the 8anta Catalina Mountains, which the road from old Camp 

 (Irant to Tucson, Arizona, crosses. Here, he says, they associated with Gam- 

 bel's Qnail, apparently on the most friendly tei'ins. 



The number of eggs to a set ranges usually from nine to sixteen, gen- 

 erally about eleven or twelve, and an egg is deposited daily. Occasionally 

 a, larger set is found. The shells of these eggs are very thick and without 

 lustre. The ground color varies from a very pale creamy white to a jjale 

 buff. The markings are sharp and well defined in most cases, varying- from 

 mere pin points, scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, to the size of No. 12 

 shot. These spots are usually round and of ecjual size, and pretty evenly 

 distributed over tlie entire egg. Occasionally a set is marked with some- 

 what more irregular, as well as larger, spots or blotches, resembling certain 

 t\'pes of eggs of CuUipepJa (/ainheli, but these markings are always paler col- 

 ored and not so pronounced. They vary in color from a pale reddish brown 

 or ochraceous to a vinaceous buff and fawn color in different sets. 



The average measurement of twent-s -eight specimens in the U. S. National 

 Museum collection is 32..5 by 25 millimetres ; the largest egg" of the series 

 measuring 34 by 27, the smallest 30.5 by 25 millimetres. In shape they vary 

 from short ovate to subpyriform. 



As there is practically no difference in the eggs of this species and of 

 the Chestnut-bellied Scaled Partridge, the eggs figured as typical of the latter 

 would also answer for the present sj^ecies under consideration. If there is 

 any difference it seems to be in size only, and even this is doiditful. 



The type specimen. No. 23165 (PI. 1, Fig. 4), selected from an incomplete 

 set of six eggs, was collected by First Lieut. H. C. Benson, Fourth Cavaliy, 

 U. S. Army, near Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Aiigust 6, 1886, and represents one 

 of the palest colored eggs of the series. 



No. 23776 (PI. 1, Fig. 6), from a set of twelve eggs collected by Lieut. M. 

 H. Barnum, Third Cavalry, U. S. Army, near Marathon, Texas, June 22, 1889, 

 represents one of the heavier marked eggs of this species, and the remaining 

 two types figured under the next subspecies are still lietter marked and rejjre- 

 sent the extremes. 



