THE PARTRIDGES. 31 



face of the ground, their white plume erected and spread 

 out like a fan. 



On the Mexican side of the Rio Grande this species is 

 found farther south than on the western bank, owing to 

 the rugged character of the country. In Texas its extreme 

 southern point is a little above Reinosa, on the first high- 

 lands on the bank. 



Don Pablo de la Llave, a Mexican naturalist, states, in 

 an account of this species, (Registro Trimestre, I., p. 144, 

 Mexico, 1832), that he attempted its domestication in vain. 

 In confinement it was very timid, all its movements were 

 rapid, and, although he fed his specimens for a long time 

 each day, they seemed to become more wild and intractable. 

 It was found by him in all the mesquite regions of North* 

 ern Mexico. 



Specimens of this Partridge were taken near San Pedro, 

 Texas., by Mr. J. H. Clark, and in New Leon, Mexico, by 

 Lieutenant Couch. According to Mr. Clark, they are not 

 found on the grassy prairies near the coast. He met with 

 them on Devil's River, in Texas, where his attention was 

 at first dirst directed to them by their very peculiar note, 

 which, when first heard, suggested to him the cry of some 

 species of squirrel. ^ In the Valley of the Lower Rio Grande 

 he also met with these birds in companies of a dozen or 

 more. Their food, on the prairies, appeared to be entirely 

 insectivorous ; while on the Lower Rio Grande all the spec- 

 imens that were procured had their bills stained with the 

 berries of the Jr>untia. They were not shy, and would 

 rather get out of the way by running than by flying. At 

 no time, and under no circumstances, were they known to 

 alight in bushes or in trees. They were only known to 

 make mere scratches in the ground for nests, and their sit- 

 uations were very carelessly selected. Young birds were 

 found in June and in July. 



Lieutenant Couch first met with this species about sixty 

 leagues west of Matamoras, and not until free from the 

 prairies and bottom-land. It was occasionally noticed, ap- 



