THE COCK OF THE PLAINS. 105 



about the size of a common fowl, of a wood-brown 

 colour, with irregular chocolate blotches on the thick 

 end. Period of incubation from twenty-one to twenty- 

 two days. The young leave the nest a few hours 

 after they are hatched." " In summer and autumn 

 months these birds are seen in small troops, and in 

 winter arid spring in flocks of several hundreds. 

 Plentiful throughout the barren, arid plains of the 

 river Columbia ; also in the interior of North Califor- 

 nia. They do not exist on the banks of the river 

 Missouri ; nor have they been seen in any jdace east 

 of the Rocky Mountains." 



