THE PARTRIDGES. 35 



both of prairies and mountains as far westward as Sonora. 

 They are wilder than the Scaled Partridge, are less con- 

 spicuous and noisy, and are never seen in flocks, or, like the 

 latter, living about old camps. Their haunts are generally 

 far removed from the habitations of man, and the indiffer- 

 ence they sometimes manifest to his presence seems to be 

 due to ignorance of the danger from the power of that 

 enemy. Though distributed over the same country as the 

 C. squamata, they are never found in such barren regions, 

 always seeming to prefer the districts most luxuriantly cov- 

 ered with vegetation. 



Dr. C. B. R. Kennerly states that this bird was never 

 seen farther south in Texas than Turkey Creek. In that 

 vicinity it was very common, and it also occurred at vari- 

 ous points thence to the Rio Grande. In the valley of this 

 river it was very rarely seen, giving way apparently to the 

 Scaly and to Gambel's Partridge. West of the river it was 

 vi-rv common, as far us the party travelled, wherever there 

 was a permanent supply of fresh water. In the valley of 

 the Santa Cruz River and among the adjacent hills it was 

 extremely abundant. In the months of June and July it 

 was observed there always in pairs, while in Texas, in the 

 months of October and November, it was found in very 

 large flocks, sometimes of various ages, from the very small 

 and partly fledged to the full grown bird. When hunted, 

 they hide very closely in the grass, and Dr. Kennerly has 

 often known the Mexican soldiers in Sonora kill them with 

 their lances by striking them either while on the ground or 

 just us they rise. Some of these men were very expert in 

 the business, and obtained a good many in the course of a 

 day's travel. 



Dr. Woodhouse met with this species a few miles above 

 the head of the Rio San Pedro, where he secured a single 

 specimen. lie was informed by Captain S. Gr. French that 

 when he first passed over exactly the same route in 1849, 

 he met with a number of them in different localities, at the 

 head of San Pedro, Howard Springs, and also at Eagle 

 Springs, showing evidently that they have a range over 



