4§4 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



call-notes of the male birds may be heard, gathering the scattered members 

 of the flocks, previous to issuing from the cover where they have been con- 

 cealed during the day. Eesorting to the trails and the roads in search of 

 subsistence, Mobile thus engaged they utter a low soft note which keeps the 

 flock together. They are not of a wild nature, often permit a near approach, 

 seldom fly unless suddenly flushed, and seem to prefer to escape from danger 

 by retreating to dense thickets. In another report Dr. Heermann men- 

 tions finding this species in California on the Mohave desert, at the point 

 where the river empties into a large salt lake forming its terminus. The 

 flock was wild, and could not be approached. Afterwards he observed 

 them on the Big Lagoon of New River. At Fort Yuma they were quite 

 abundant, congregating in large coveys, frequenting the thick underwood in 

 the vicinity of the mesquite-trees. Their stomachs were found to be filled 

 with the seeds of the mesquite, a few grass- seeds, and the berries of a 

 parasitic plant. On being suddenly flushed these birds separate very widely, 

 but immediately upon alighting commence their call-note, resembling the 

 soft chirp of a young chicken, which is kept up for some time. The alarm 

 over, and the flock once more reunited, they relapse into silence, only 

 broken by an occasional cluck of the male bird. Once scattered they can- 

 not be readily started again, as they lie close in their thick, bushy, and im- 

 penetrable coverts. Near Fort Yuma the Indians catch them in snares, 

 and bring them in great numbers for sale. 



Dr. Samuel W. Woodhouse first met with this species on the Eio Grande, 

 about fifty miles below El Paso, up to which place it was extremely abundant. 

 It was by no means a shy bird, frequently coming about the houses ; and he 

 very often observed the males perched on the top of a high bush, uttering 

 their jjeculiarly mournful calls. He found it in quite large flocks, feed- 

 ing principally on seeds and berries. It became scarce as he approached 

 Dona Ana, above which place he did not meet with it again. He again 

 encountered it, however, near the head of Bill Williams Eiver, and after- 

 wards on the Tampia Creek, and it was exceedingly abundant all along 

 the Great Colorado. He was informed that they are never found west 

 of the Coast Eange, in California. About Camp Yuma, below the mouth 

 of the Gila Eiver, they were very abundant and very tame, coming quite 

 near the men, and picking up the grain wasted by the mules. They are 

 trapped in great numbers by the Indians. 



This Quail is given by Mr. Dresser as occurring in Texas, but not as a 

 common bird, and only found in certain localities. At INIuddy Creek, near 

 Fort Clark, they were not uncommon, and were also found near the Nueces 

 Eiver. 



Dr. Coues (Ibis, 1866), in a monograph upon this species, describes its 

 carriage upon the ground as being firm and erect, and at the same time light 

 and easy, and with colors no less pleasing than its form. He found them 

 to be exceedingly abundant in Arizona, and soon after his arrival in the 



