110 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



further than either the Texan bobwhite or the scaled 

 partridge, and on alighting they run rapidly for a lit- 

 tle distance and then squat again, generally flushing 

 easier the second time. It is rare to see more than 

 six together; two or three are more often met with. 

 In the fall of 1886 I found a covey of five, on a wet 

 and misty day, and killed three of them with a Win- 

 chester rifle before the remaining two flew. I never 

 found their eggs nor met with small young until this 

 year. I saw but a single bird this season, and this 

 seemed to be entirely alone. They are not very abun- 

 dant here, and are always found in the most barren 

 places, among rocks and wastes where even prickly 

 pear is stunted and no bush grows over three feet 

 high. When scared they utter a kind of whistling 

 sound, a curious combination between a chuckle and 

 a whistle, and while flying they make a noise a good 

 deal like a prairie hen, though softer and less loud, like 

 chuc-chuc-chuc , rapidly repeated. 



"The only nest of this species I have ever seen was 

 situated under the edge of a big bunch of a coarse spe- 

 cies of grass, known as 'hickory grass/ This grass 

 grows out from the center, and hangs over on all sides 

 until the blades touch the ground. It is a round, hard- 

 stemmed grass, and only grows on the most sterile soil. 

 According to my observations, the Massena partridge 

 is seldom seen in other localities than where tfiis grass 

 grows. I was riding at a walk up the slope of a bar- 

 ren hill, when my horse almost stepped on a nest, touch- 

 ing just the rim of it. The bird gave a startled flut- 



