APPENDIX 357 



fall. The female produces two broods a year, of fifteen or sixteen young ones 

 each, and it is rare for an egg to fail to produce a bird. By slowly removing 

 some of the eggs from the nest, after the first few have been laid, the output 

 can be increased to fifty or even sixty eggs for a season, the extra ones being 

 hatched under a hen. Experiments have been made with incubators for hatch- 

 ing quail (partridge) eggs, and with some degree of success, but the hen serves 

 admirably for the purpose. It should be a hen of gentle disposition and hght 

 weight, so as not to smash the treasures confided to her, and a bantam seems to 

 be well adapted for the business." Mr. Bache describes at length the method 

 of rearing the young, but his story would be more satisfactory if it were accom- 

 panied with some statement of facts concerning those who have experimented 

 with partridge domestication. A general opinion has prevailed that these birds 

 were not easily tamed and that they did not breed in confinement. The editor 

 of the Review, says, however : " In future years it is probable the breeding of 

 quail (partridges) for stocking depleted resorts will be conducted in a system- 

 atic manner by the game and fish commissioners of nearly all the States." 

 Our partridges are far better game birds than the imported pheasants, to which 

 much time and attention has been given. Partridges can without doubt be 

 raised in considerable numbers in a wild state on farms where they are cared 

 for and protected at all times. I should be glad to see the evidence that they 

 can be bred in captivity. 



" No person shall shoot at any quail except when they are flying " — Ohio 

 laws, 1902. This would be a good law for all the States. The word part- 

 ridge should be used in the statute however. Since there are no quails in 

 America a conviction under the Ohio law would be hardly possible. 



18. Massena Partridge. — Crytonyx montezuma. 



Forehead black with white stripe passing upward from nostril ; top 

 of head brown barred with black ; short, thick crest brown ; triangular 

 black patch beneath the eye ; head marked with white as pictured ; 

 upper parts brown barred with black ; sides of breast and flanks dusky 

 black spotted with white, resembling small guinea-hen; bill black. 

 Length, Z)^ in.; wing, 5 in. 



Female. — Brown, upper parts barred with black, black spots on 

 lower chest and flanks. 



Hab. — Table-lands of Mexico, from the City of Mexico north to 

 Western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 



