VALLEY PARTRIDGE. 59 
coveys break up in March, and mating begins. This fact 
is a very remarkable one, as it shows the suppression of 
the amatory instinct (we can hardly imagine at the will 
of the bird), at a time when, if it was allowed to have its 
usual sway with the consequent result, the probability 
would be that the young would perish from lack of food. 
But it would seem that the birds’ volition had nothing 
to do with the case, for, as Mr. Anthony states (in a let- 
ter to Captain Bendire given in the work already cited), 
individuals obtained by him in April, May, and June, 
during one of these dry seasons, exhibited but a very 
slight development of the ovaries. The nesting season 
begins in March, perhaps a little later in the northern 
portion of its habitat, and the males at this time are very 
pugnacious, and frequent battles occur among them for 
the possession of some particular fair one. The chal- 
lenge call of the male is clear and loud, and he also has a 
low, tender note, which seems to be uttered solely for 
the female, and resembles the syllables ah-hooh. The 
nest is a very primitive affair; very often the eggs are 
deposited on the bare ground, under some bush, log, or 
by the side of a rock, or in similar situations as are 
selected by the California Partridge, and the number, 
coloring, and marking of the eggs are the same as those 
of the species just named. 
The habits and food of the two birds are very much 
alike, as would be supposed, and the present race runs 
as swiftly, exhibits the same unwillingness to lie before 
a dog, takes to a tree or bush quickly, and evinces the 
same indisposition to fly as is displayed by its relative. 
If the flock is met suddenly, the birds utter a cry that 
sounds very much as if they were trying to swear at the 
intruder in Spanish, and many an angry ca-raho is 
hurled at his head in earnest tones, as if the startled birds 
