BOBWHITE IN MEXICO 63 



and travelers have killed or frightened them off. One 

 of the former assured me that he had killed as many 

 as five at one shot. Ten miles south of Bolle's, in the 

 Altar Valley, we came across a small covey, perhaps a 

 dozen in all. The bright, deep chestnut breast plumage 

 of the males looked red in the sun, and gave the birds 

 a most magnificent appearance. We secured but one, 

 a male, the rest secreting themselves in the tall sacaton 

 grass, which at this point was between 4 and 5 feet 

 high, and as we had no dog we did not follow them. 

 Our next place to find them was on the mesa, southeast 

 of the peak, where we camped to hunt for them, but 

 they were scarce here, and we managed to secure but 

 few. 



"In addition to their bobwhite they have a second 

 call of hoo-we, articulated and as clean-cut as their 

 'bobwhite. This call of hoo-we they used when 

 scattered, and more especially when separated toward 

 nightfall. At this hour I noted that although they oc- 

 casionally called bobwhite, they never repeated the 

 first syllable, as in the day time they now and then at- 

 tempted to do. In body they are plumpness itself; in 

 this respect, considering size, they overmatch the Ari- 

 zona quail (Callipepla gambeli), with which I com- 

 pared them. In actual size of body, however, the latter 

 is the larger. Of three stomachs of this species exam- 

 ined, one contained a species of mustard seed, a few 

 chaparral berries, and some six or eight beetles and 

 other insects, ranging in length from a half inch down 



