PERDICIDJ5 — THE PARTRIDGES. 493 



but did not fly, and, when shot, proved to be a Massena Quail. He says they 

 occur either in pairs or in flocks, and when once flushed fly farther than 

 the Virginia Quail, but do not lie so close. They may be approached 

 within a few feet, and followed up, particularly when in pairs, running 

 along before one like so many domestic fowl. They are of quiet as well 

 as of retired habits, and a subdued though sharp note is the only noise that 

 Mr. Clark ever heard them make, and that only when frightened. He has 

 known them to be pursued, and all the barrels of a six-shooter fired one after 

 another without alarming them ; and they were forced to fly at last only by 

 an attack of stones and clubs. He first met with them in the neighborhood 

 of San Antonio, and found them thence sparsely distributed as an inhabitant 

 both of prairies and mountains as far westward as Sonora. They are wilder 

 than the Scaled Partridge, are less conspicuous and noisy, and are never seen 

 in flocks, or, like the latter, living about old camps. Their haunts are gen- 

 erally far removed from the habitations of man, and the indifference they 

 sometimes manifest to his presence seems to be due to ignorance of the 

 danger from the power of that enemy. Though distributed over the same 

 country as the C. squamata, they are never found in such barren regions, 

 always seeming to prefer the districts most luxuriantly covered with vege- 

 tation. 



Dr. C. B. E. Kennerly states that this bird was never seen farther south in 

 Texas than Turkey Creek. In that vicinity it was very common, and it also 

 occurred at various points thence to the Eio Grande. In the valley of this 

 river it was very rarely seen, giving way apparently to the Scaly and to 

 Gambel's Partridge. West of the river it was very common, as far as the party 

 travelled, wherever there was a permanent supply of fresh water. In the 

 valley of the Santa Cruz Eiver and among the adjacent hills it was ex- 

 tremely abundant. In tlie months of June and July it was observed there 

 always in pairs, while in Texas, in the months of October and November, it 

 was found in very large flocks, sometimes of various ages, from the very 

 small and partly fledged to the full-grown bird. When hunted, they 

 hide very closely in the grass, and Dr. Kennerly has often known the 

 Mexican soldiers in Sonora kill them with their lances by striking them 

 either while on the ground or just as they rise. Some of these men were 

 very expert in the business, and obtained a good many in the course of a 

 day's travel. 



Dr. Woodhouse met with this species a few miles above the head of the 

 Eio San Pedro, where he secured a single specimen. He was informed by 

 Captain S. G. French that when he first passed over exactly the same route in 

 1849, he met with a number of them in different localities, — at the head of 

 San Pedro, Howard Springs, and also at Eagle Springs, — showing evidently 

 that they have a range over the country lying between the Eio Grande and 

 the San Pedro Eivers. He also stated that he had never met with any near 

 the settlements, but always among the wild, rocky, and almost barren hills of 



