THE SCALED PARTRIDGE 



( Callipepla squamata. ) 



One of the most interesting occasions 

 to break the monotony of a long ride on a 

 New Mexican or Arizonian desert re 

 gion is to come in view of a covey of the 

 beautiful Scaled Partridges, which are 

 also known as the Blue or White Top 

 knot Quails. As they are familiar with 

 stray companies of antelopes, cows and 

 horses, they pay little attention to the 

 rider and allow him to approach within 

 a few yards. A sudden dash at them will 

 cause the birds to take a short flight to 

 an arroyo or to a heavy growth of yucca 

 or cactus after which they will depend 

 upon their legs for further escaping from 

 an apparent danger, and it is remarkable 

 how fast they can run and the distance to 

 which they retreat when pursued. It is 

 indeed a beautiful and restful sight to 

 watch these birds as they run Indian file 

 in front of a rider. The soft shading of 

 a bluish color, of a portion of their plum 

 age, with the crescent shaped white 

 markings, the pure white crest together 

 with their fine bearing as they run be 

 fore you appeals to one's sympathy. More 

 than once I have refrained from shooting 

 them although they were sadly needed 

 for the food supply of the day. In Texas 

 and Chihuahua, Mexico, I have rarely 

 seen them in coveys of more than twenty- 

 five and usually of not more than eight 

 or ten individuals. At Teviston, Ariz 

 ona, near Fort Bowie, however, I have 

 seen coveys of over one hundred birds. 

 When one of these coveys is disturbed, 

 the birds will run away from the dis 

 turbing cause in several directions among 

 the bushes or other vegetable growths 

 and are very soon out of sight. Finally, 

 when all is quiet again, they are soon re 

 united by the utterance of their call- 

 notes. It is very seldom that they can 

 be forced to rise in flight and so they 

 must be procured by shooting them while 

 running on the ground. They seldom, 

 if ever, alight in bushes or trees. 



The range of the Scaled Partridges 

 is not very extensive. It extends from 

 the tablelands of Mexico northward 

 through central and western Texas into 

 New Mexico, where it is quite well dis 

 tributed and is fairly abundant, and 

 southern Arizona where they are quite 

 common in certain localities. Major 

 Bendire quotes in his "Life Histories of 

 North American Birds," the observa 

 tions of Mr. Herbert Brown, who says: 

 "I have seen this bird both far away 

 from, and in the immediate vicinity of, 

 water, on the open valleys and plains, and 

 also in the rough foothills of the moun 

 tains." He also quotes the observations 

 of Mr. E. W. Nelson, who says: "In 

 many instances I have found them far 

 from water, but they make regular visits 

 to the watering places." In certain lo 

 calities, Mr. Nelson found them fre 

 quenting the open plains, away from the 

 water in the middle of the day, and in 

 the vicinity of the water late in the after 

 noon. The writer observed the Scaled 

 Partridges in Chihuahua, Mexico, in lo 

 calities where the nearest water was nine 

 miles away, and at Teviston, Arizona, 

 where the nearest water was at least fif 

 teen miles from where the birds were 

 seen. They seem to avoid timbered areas 

 and at least in Arizona they always seem 

 to prefer the driest areas. Major Ben- 

 dire also found this to be the case. He 

 says : "I invariably found them back in 

 the foothills and mesas from two to five 

 miles distant from the river beds, which 

 are generally dry for the greater part of 

 the year." Such localities as Major 

 Bendire speaks of, are a favorite habitat 

 of various species of cacti, -yuccas, dwarf 

 sage bushes and a few other plants which 

 can manage to exist in such barren areas. 

 Such places he found to be the favorite 

 home of the Scaled Partridges. 



The nests of these Partridges, so far 

 as known, are always placed on the 



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