90 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



"During incubation the male is very attentive and 

 watchful, usually taking an elevated position near the 

 nest, where, with crest erect and tail spread, he bids 

 defiance to all intruders, uttering an oft repeated 

 wheiv-whew-whew. When the breeding hen leaves the 

 nest to feed, should he be absent from the post of duty, 

 her cry of tobacco-tobacco, very plainly given, brings 

 him up at once. . . . 



"As soon as the young are hatched they immediately 

 leave the nest, keeping under cover as much as possi- 

 ble. Should the brood be disturbed, the old birds will 

 run and flutter along the ground to draw the attention 

 of the dog, or whatever may have frightened them, to 

 themselves and away from the young. In about ten 

 days these can fly a short distance. The valley par- 

 tridge feeds on insects and the young and tender leaves 

 of clover and green peas; later, on grain and various 

 small seeds; in the fall they eat wild grapes, and are 

 also very partial to the seeds of the amaranth, also those 

 of Mentzelia Icevicanlis. Here only one brood is raised 

 in a season, and incubation, as nearly as I can ascertain, 

 lasts about twenty-eight days." 



The eggs of this species range from 12 to 16, nests 

 occasionally, as already stated, containing many more. 

 The eggs are cream-white in color, spotted and blotched 

 with different shades of dark and light brown and drab 

 scattered over the whole egg. 



