UPLAND GAME BIRDS 119 
it offers a difficult mark for the true sportsman, and is 
less in danger from him than from the pitiless trapper. 
It differs from the valley partridge in being darker- 
colored and of a more northern range, but is often mis- 
taken for it, as the habits and call are exactly alike. It 
is quite unlike the mountain partridge, — an inch smaller, 
with more of a blue tinge to the slate-color of 
Moreover the crest is shorter and tips 
forward like a pompon, 
while the mountain 
and 7 
“sa i ph 
Bees 
Mis “partridge usually car- 
GB _, mes his long 
eS = ; rT 4  erest float- 
Dees es. The backward. 
Wer Unlike the nest of the 
+0 a mountain partridge, too, 
294. “CALIFORNIA Partrince. the nest of californicus 1S 
poo aunts the conmta and slope.” rarely concealed, the. eves 
being laid on a mat of leaves or grass on the open ground 
' beside a stump or under a bush, and they are sometimes 
found in the nest of the Oregon towhee. Doubtless the 
protective coloring helps to prevent their discovery dur- 
ing the three weeks required for incubation. In this 
task, unlike our Eastern “ Bob White,” the male does 
not assist, but frequently stands guard at a short distance 
and warns of danger by a sharp short call. The chicks 
are out of the nest almost as soon as out of the shell, 
and are as skilful as their parents at running to cover. 
When a day or two old they learn to find their own food, 
picking up the bugs and even jumping for them when 
