THE SCALED PARTRIDGE. 



^) 1 HROUGHOUT Northwestern 



^ I Mexico and the border of the 

 OJ I United States, from Western 



~^ Texas to New Mexico and 

 Southern Arizona, this handsome 

 Partridge, called the Blue Quail, is 

 found in abundance, especially on the 

 dry mesas of the San Pedro slope of 

 the Santa Catalina Mountains, up to 

 an altitude of three thousand five hun- 

 dred feet. In Arizona they are found 

 in flocks of from six to ten, sometimes 

 more, in the most barren places, miles 

 away from water. 



The Blue Quail, like all the other 

 western and southwestern species, 

 prefers to trust to safety to its powers 



of running, rather than those of flight. 

 The great trouble is to start them from 

 the ground. 



A slight depression under a bush 

 serves for the nest of this bird, which 

 is generally lined with a few coarse 

 grasses. Complete sets of eggs have 

 been found as early as April 25. The 

 eggs are extremely thick-shelled, of a 

 buffy-white or cream color. The 

 number laid ranges from eight to 

 sixteen. 



The habits of this Quail do not 

 differ greatly from those of Bob White, 

 though they have not been fully 

 studied, and the species is of less ex- 

 tensive distribution. 



THE MOUND BIRD. 



There are some peculiar birds in the 

 world, and one of the strangest is the 

 Australian Megapod, or Mound bird, 

 that allows nature to perform the labor 

 of hatching its eggs. In some rjarts 

 of the island continent are found many 

 mounds of considerable size and height, 

 which the first explorers took for burial 

 mounds. These were made by the 

 " Megapodius Tumulus," which uses 

 them for hatching its eggs. They have 

 sometimes considerable dimensions. A 

 nest that is 14 feet high and 55 feet in 

 circumference may be regarded as 

 large. Each Megapod builds its own 

 nest with materials which it gathers 

 from all sides, and these are exactly 

 what the gardener uses in the month 

 of March to make his forcing beds 

 namely, leaves and decomposing vege- 

 table matter, which by their fermenta- 

 tion give off an appreciable amount of 

 heat. In the forcing beds this heat 

 hastens the sprouting of the seeds ; in 



the nest it suffices for the development 

 and hatching of the young birds, and 

 the mother can go where she likes and 

 occupy herself as she wishes without 

 being troubled by the duties of sitting. 

 In the small islands of Ninafou, in the 

 Pacific, another bird has a somewhat 

 similar habit, in so far as it also 

 abandons its eggs, but in place of 

 obtaining the necessary heat from 

 fermentation it gets it from the warm 

 sand. The Leipoa or native Pheasant 

 of Australia acts like the Megapod and 

 watches the temperature of its mound 

 very closely, covering and uncovering 

 the eggs several times a day to cool 

 them or heat them, as becomes nec- 

 essary. After hatching, the young 

 bird remains in the mound several 

 hours; it leaves on the second day, but 

 returns for the night, and not until the 

 third day is it able to leave for good 

 the paternal abode. American Field. 



114 



