OF THE UNITED STATES 219 



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

 and killed three of them with a Winchester rifle before the re- 

 maining two flew. I never found their nest nor met with small 

 young until this year. I saw but a single young bird this sea- 

 son, and this seemed to be entirely alone. They are not very 

 abundant here, and are always found in the most barren places, 

 among rocks and wastes, where even the 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 

 i chuc-chuc-chuc ' rapidly repeated." " The only nest of this spe- 

 cies I have ever seen was situated under the edge of a big bunch 

 of a coarse species 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 obser- 

 vations the Massena Partridge is seldom seen in other localities 

 than where this grass grows. I was riding at a walk up the 

 slope of a barren hill when my horse almost stepped on a nest, 

 touching just the rim of it. The bird gave a startled flutter, 

 alighting again within three feet of the nest and not over six 

 feet from me; thence she walked away with her crest slightly 

 erected, uttering a low chuckling whistle until lost to view 

 behind a Spanish bayonet plant (yucca), about thirty feet off. I 

 was riding a rather unruly horse, and had to return about thirty 

 yards to tie him to a yucca before I could examine the nest. This 

 was placed in a slight depression, possibly dug out by some ani- 

 mal, the top of the nest being on a level with the earth around it. 

 It was well lined with fine stalks of wire-grass almost exclu- 

 sively, the cavity being about five inches in diameter and two 

 inches deep. At the back, next to the grass, it was slightly 

 arched over, and the overhanging blades of grass hid it entirely 

 from sight. The nest was more carefully made than the average 

 Bob-white's nest, and very nicely concealed." Major Bendire, in 

 describing these eggs, has said that they were " ten in number, 

 were fresh when found, pure white in color, rather glossy, and 

 the majority of them are more elongated than those of the Bob- 

 white. A few of these eggs resemble those of the latter some- 

 what in shape, but the greater number are distinctly ovate and 

 much more glossy. Some are slightly granulated, and corruga- 



