GAMBEL'S PARTRIDGE. 65 
mating season commences quite early in the spring, say 
the month of April, and the male presents a very hand- 
some appearance as with erect body, dignified move- 
ments, puffed-out feathers and trailing, trembling wings, 
he moves sedately before the gaze of his shy lady-love. 
She is a modestly attired little body, similar, but still quite 
different in dress to her lord, lacking the strongly con- 
trasting colors upon the head, and the great black patch 
on the belly. The glossy, jet black, graceful plume of 
many feathers that decorates the head of the male, open- 
ing and closing, as his frequent changes of feelings exert 
their influence, is in the female reduced to small propor- 
tions, and dusky in hue. 
The nest is simply a hollow scratched out in the soil, 
sometimes lined with grass or leaves, and concealed 
from view by tall grass, or by some overhanging bush, 
or else hidden away amid the vegetation that springs up 
in the dry beds of the creeks. In fact any spot that will 
afford the necessary protection and concealment is taken 
advantage of, and the eggs removed from the view of 
prying enemies. Doubtless, however, many are taken by 
reptiles such as snakes of various kinds, and even the Gila 
Monster has been known to have made a meal on the 
eggs of this species. The usual number found in a nest 1s 
from twelve to fifteen; and these have a ground color 
varying from a creamy white to a pale buff, irregularly 
spotted and blotched with dark seal, sometimes almost 
blackish, brown, drab, or rufous, all suffused with a 
peculiar purplish bloom. Occasionally a nest is found 
placed in a tree, or cactus, a few feet from the ground, 
the bird, doubtless, having lost the eggs previously laid, 
had sought a more secure refuge from her terrestrial foes. 
The period of incubation extends to about four weeks, 
and probably two broods are raised in a season, Thé 
