30 FRANK SCHLEY'S PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



Though found in the same section of country with Gam- 

 bol's Quail, they were not observed to associate together in 

 the same flock. Their favorite resorts were sandy chap- 

 arral and mesquite bushes. Through these they ran with 

 great swiftness, resorting only, when greatly alarmed by a 

 sudden approach, to their wings. They were very shy, 

 and were seldom found near habitations, though once a 

 large covey, ran through his camp in the suburbs of El 

 Paso. 



Colonel McCall (Proc. Phil. Ac., Y., p. 222) mentions meet- 

 ing with this species throughout an extended region, from 

 Camargo, on the Lower Eio Grande, to Santa Fe. They 

 were most numerous between the latter place and Dona Ana, 

 preferring the vicinity of water-courses to interior tracts. 

 They were wild, exceedingly watchful, and swift of foot, 

 eluding pursuit with surprising skill, scarcely ever resort- 

 ing to flight even on the open sandy ground. For the table 

 they are said to possess, in a high degree, the requisites of 

 plump muscle and delicate flavor. 



In a subsequent sketch of this species, quoted by Mr. 

 Cassin, the same writer gives as the habitat at the entire 

 Yalley of the Eio Grande, a territory of great extent from 

 north to south, and embracing in its stretch between the 

 Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico every variety of 

 climate. This entire region, not excepting even the moun- 

 tain valleys covered in winter with deep snow, is inhabited 

 by it. It was found by him from the 25th to the 38th de- 

 gree of north latitude, or from below Monterey, in Mexico, 

 along the borders of the San Juan Elver, as high up as the 

 Taos and other northern branches of the Eio Grande. He 

 also found it at the head of the Eiado Creek, which rises 

 in the Eocky Mountains and runs eastwardly to the Cana- 

 dian. 



Wherever found, they are always resident, proving their 

 ability to endure great extremes of heat and cold. In 

 swiftness of foot, no species of this family can compete 

 with them. When running, they hold their heads high 

 and keep the body erect, and seem to skim over the sur- 



