12 LIFE lusTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Lieut H. C. Benson, Fourth Cavalry, IT. S. Army, found the Masked Bob 

 White tairlv abundant near Campos aul Baruachi, Sonora, Becuring a number 

 ,- Bp ecimen B In the summer of 1886, and ho writes me that they only 

 Irequented cultivated Belds there, where wheat and barley had been raised 



II,. ,U. found another species of Partridge associated with these birds near 

 , !ampOB) whi ,h probably crosses our border also. This Partridge ^ 

 described by Mr. H- Ridgway, in Forest and Stream of March 3, 1 

 , 1;1 ,,H-,1 CmiH-i>l<i <'l<>wns bensoni," in honor of its discoverer. 



Nothin.-- positive has been known about the nest and eggs of the 

 IU. White till the present season, though one of their nests containing six eggs 

 was found son,. vears ago. They were allowed to remain in hope of seeing 

 thr Qumber increased, and when visited at another time they had hatcl 

 The uesi as .Inscribed to Mr. Brown was a shallow excavation alongs 



of ,, ri , s The e s were white and unspotted. In the spring of 



Brown succeeded in obtaining one of these eggs cut from the oviduct of the 

 female as well as a set of eleven eggs said to belong to this species. 



a were found early in May in a, similar situation in the vicinity i.t Anvaca. 

 The egg of the Masked Bob White is white, unspotted, subpyriform m shape, 

 ...ml their average measurement is 31 by 25 millimetres. 



Since the foregoing was written, Mr. Otho C. Poling writes me from tort 

 llnachnca, Arizona, as follows: "I first met with the Masked Bob White on 

 Mav 24 1S90, in a series of low foothills extending off to the northwest ot 

 Buachuca Mountains, and ending in a somewhat higher range of hill 

 the Tanella Range, being the northwestern termination of the 

 Mo*t of these hills are thickly grown up with juniper, cedar, maiizanita, stunted 

 ,,aks, pines, and with a heavy growth of grass. While riding along one ot 

 these grassy ridges I flushed what I supposed was a "Fool Quail," 

 monfeffum*. I at once staked my horse, and on shooting the bird I found it to 

 be a male of the Masked Quail. I continued the search and had. spent a half 

 hour or more, when, as I passed within 2 feet of a mescal plant, Agave ameri- 

 rfl, I suddenly flushed the female from underneath it. I first shot her and 

 then' expected to find the nest; but after searching for several hours and failing, 

 I gave it up. The female contained an egg which was fully developed and 

 would probably have been laid within half an hour. I searched for the nest 

 .if this species on the two succeeding days as well, but made no further discov- 

 eries. The single egg of Colin H* riilf/tnii/i obtained by me is pure white and 

 measures 31 by 24 millimetres. 



"The Canella Range is si bout 25 miles north of the Mexican border, 

 more specimens of the Masked Quail, both females, were shot about June 10, 

 in the Ihuiehnra Mountains, near the middle of the range, at an elevation of 

 about C,000 feet. The birds wen? found in a canon about 15 miles north of the 

 bonier, on the northeastern slope of the range." 



From the foregoing it would appear that the Masked Bob White is confined 

 to a narrow strip of country along our southwestern border, and is nowhere as 



