MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. 



A LONG the western slopes of the Coast Ran^e in CaH- 

 ^^ fornia and Oregon, the Hne of its habitat inchning 

 more to the eastward as it goes north, this beautiful bird 

 has a rather restricted dispersion, even in the States which 

 are its home. It has been introduced into the State of 

 Washington, and appears to have secured a permanent 

 foothold north of Seattle. A few crossed to the north of 

 the Columbia, but on the south bank of that river the 

 species has worked its way down as far as Astoria. 



This Quail is rather abundant in the Willamette Valley, 

 Oregon, and common in certain parts of California, but 

 is very rare south of San Francisco, though it is occasion- 

 ally met with in flocks of the California Partridge. It 

 seeks moist districts and places where the rainfall is fre- 

 quent. It is a shy bird, not easily found, and the flock 

 runs along the ground for quite a distance before taking 

 wing, and then scatters in every direction. The male 

 has a kind of crowing note, and when a flock becomes 

 separated its members call to each other in tones similar 

 to the note of a hen turkey. This species is not very gre- 

 garious; that is to say, it goes in small companies of per- 

 haps twelve to twenty, but is never seen in such great 

 congregations as those in which the California Partridge 

 is accustomed to assemble. The female calls her brood 

 by clucking like the common hen, and the little creatures 

 are great adepts at hiding on the least approach of danger. 

 The food of the Mountain Partridge is like that of all its 

 relatives, seeds and insects of various kinds, and it some- 



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