i885-J Stephens on Birds of Arizona and Sonora. 2 27 



dark, and it appeared almost brick red below as it flew away. 

 I had been led to suppose that the unknown Partridge said to occur 

 in this region was Ortyx graysoni, and from its description I ex- 

 pected to see a bird much the color of O. virginiana ; but this bird 

 was evidently something else. In the afternoon I heard another 

 bob-white, and guided by the notes, I found the bird, perched on 

 a branch of a small mesquit tree. Creeping up behind a small 

 bush I succeeded in getting within twenty yards of it, but even 

 this short range was too far for my little gun and No. 10 shot. 

 I had a good view of this bird, and I certainly believe this one 

 was O. graysoni. It had none of the reddish tint of the lower 

 parts of the other bird, and had a plain whitish stripe on the side 

 of the head. The notes, plainly heard, were two, bob-white ; 

 the bob was as loud as the white, but this last note lacked the 

 ring of the last note of O. virginiana. I believe this to be the 

 only O. graysoni I have ever seen, if it really was graysoni. 



In the afternoon we watered the horses at the stage station, 

 kept by a Mexican. The water had been hauled from a spring 

 live miles away, and they charged us twenty-five cents per horse. 

 Camped for the night in the best grass we saw on the route. The 

 large spiders known in Arizona as tarantulas were abundant 

 here, and my companions were not pleased with the prospect of 

 such bed-fellows. I had camped out too long in the deserts to 

 care for them. 



I was awakened at daybreak by the call of bob-white, and 

 was not long in turning out. How I wished for my 12-bore, for I 

 knew that I had very little chance with my little gun and No. 10 shot 

 in this open prairie. There appealed to be several of the birds scat- 

 tered singly in various directions, but after two or three calls they 

 became silent, perhaps because of the lateness of the season. When 

 I heard a call I would go in the direction of the sound and wait 

 to hear it again, generally without success. After a little another 

 would strike up in another direction, and I spent the morning 

 wandering about, but saw only one bird, which I missed. As it 

 flew toward the rising sun it appeared bright red beneath. The 

 notes that I heard with distinctness were different from those I 

 heard the preceding afternoon. They were three instead of two. 

 like ah-bob-white, similar to those of O. virginiana, but the ah 

 louder in proportion, the emphasis increasing to the white, which 

 had some rinsr. 



