444 ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



mules. Several of the men, completely deceived, attempted to catch her, 

 when she gradually tluttered off, keepinfi^ all the time just beyond the reach 

 of their hands, till she had enticed them <a dozen yards away, when she 

 rose and was off like a bidlet, much to their amazement. From Camp 

 Apache southward, the species ajijieared to be (piite numerous, always 

 sh()win<r its predilection for rocky hills and roufjli canons. In the canons 

 of the Gila River, toward its sources in New Mexico, in October and No- 

 vember, they were met with frequently, and scarcely a day passed without 

 three or four coveys being' flushed. At this season, they keep in small 

 coveys ; I do not remember to have ever seen more than ten together, and 

 usually from four to eight. Their tameness is remarkable, and the more so 

 when contrasted with the wild, timid nature of Gambel's Partridge, which 

 inhabits the same region. I have ridden so close to a covey sitting among 

 the rocks that, leaning down, I could have almost touched them with my 

 hand. When a covey is flu.shed, they usually separate, and fly strongly 

 and swiftly in a straight line, dropping down into the first convenient covei-. 

 They lie well, requiring to be almost kicked up before taking wing. The 

 species was found in New Mexico as far noi-th as Fort Tulero-sa. 



Description of young male. — Ui)i)er p.nrts i)ale brown, each feather with a incdiaii 

 .sharply detiiied streak of pale (R-hraceous, and barred with black acros.s the web.s; 

 winjj coverts ashy, with transver.se oval or rounded .spots of deep black on oi»positc 

 webs; primaries and secondaries banded transverely with white .spots; head fjrayi.sh- 

 white laterally and beneath ; the whole throat unspotted ; a dark-brown s[)()t on the 

 auricidars; the region above and below finely streaked with dusky; crown more 

 brownish, spotted with black, and with whitLsh shaft streaks; lower i)arts pale {jray, 

 inclining- to i»lunibeou.s on middle of breast; each feather with a terminal deltoid .spot 

 of w hite, bordered anteriorly by a narrow bar of black ; abdomen tinged with ochra- 

 ceous; anal region, tibi;e, and ciissum velvety black. 



Chick: — Head above brownish, with an occipital jiatch of chestnut brown; a small 

 black si)ot behind the eye; crest, of five feathers, Just appearing, each feather streaked 

 centrally with white, bordered l)y blackish-brown ; npi)er parts brown, each feather 

 streaked centrally with white, and with two to three transver.se spots of black; under 

 parts dull white, each feather with tranverse spottings of blackish brown. 



