THE PARTRIDGES. 33 



cies. He reports them as very diffi-cnilt to shoot, for the 

 reason that, whenever a bevj^ is disturbed, the birds scat- 

 ter, and, running with outstretched necks and erected crests, 

 dodge through the bushes like rabbits, so as soon to be out 

 of reach. He has thus seen a flock of ten or fifteen disap- 

 pear so entirely as to render it impossible to obtain a single 

 one. If left undisturbed, they commence their call-note, 

 which is not unlike the chirp of a chicken, and soon re- 

 unite. It was utterly out of the question to get them to 

 rise, and the only way to procure specimens was to shoot 

 them on the ground. Near the small villages in Mexico he 

 found them very tame ; and at Presidio, on the Rio Grande, 

 he noticed them in a corral, feeding with some poultry. 

 He did not meet with their eggs, but they were described 

 to him, by the Mexicans, as dull white, with minute red- 

 dish spots. 



The egg of the Callipepla squamata is regularly oval, 

 being much more elongated than with any other species of 

 this family. It measures 1.35 inches in length by .95 in 

 breadth. Its ground color is a creamy white, and its sur- 

 face is minutely freckled with specks of a pale drab. 



MASSENA PARTEIDGE. 

 Cyrtonyx massena. — Gould. 



Sp. Char. — Male. — Head striped with white, black, and 

 lead color ; chin black. Feathers above streaked centrally 

 with whitish, those on the outer surface of the wings 

 with two series of rounded black spots. Central line of 

 breast and belly dark chestnut ; the abdomen, thighs, and 

 crissum black ; the sides of breast and body lead color, with 

 round white spots. Legs blue. Length, 8.75 ; wing, 7.00 ; 

 tail, 2.50. 



Female. — Prevailing color light vinaceous-cihnamon, the 

 upper parts barred and streaked as in the male. Head 



5 



