294 The Fowl-like Birds 



of the United States, from the high plateaus and table -lands having an eleva- 

 tion of between 1500 and some 7000 feet, between the principal water courses. 

 "These barren and rocky foot-hills and table-lands are covered in places with 

 a dry, harsh vegetation consisting of different species of cacti, stunted yuccas, 

 catclaw-mimosa, creosote, and dwarf sage-bushes, where the soil is so parched 

 that scarcely anything else will flourish, and where nearly every shrub is covered 

 with sharp spines or thorns; such places I found to be the favorite home of 

 the Scaled Partridge."- BENDIRE. I have myself observed them in somewhat 

 similar situations below Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although frequently found 

 miles from water, they are said to make daily visits, usually late in the afternoon, 

 to the drinking places. During the summer they go about in family parties, 

 but toward fall two or three such parties may unite and occasionally as many 

 as sixty or eighty are seen in a covey. When flushed they scatter and fly for 

 short distances, and then alight and run among the bushes with great swiftness, 

 rarely taking wing unless closely pushed. The nesting season begins about 

 May i, and two or three broods are sometimes raised in a season. The nest, 

 always on the ground, is placed in a great variety of situations, such as rocky 

 hillsides, alfalfa meadows, corn and grain fields, and not rarely in open barren 

 flats. The number of eggs ranges from nine to sixteen, the usual number being 

 eleven or twelve. In color they vary from creamy white to pale buff, often 

 thickly spotted with brown. The Scaled Partridge feeds on seeds, berries, 

 grain, tender buds, as well as insects of various kinds, and is esteemed for food, 

 immense numbers often being trapped, and sold in the cities of New Mexico 

 and Arizona. Another well-marked species (C. castanogastris) is found in eastern 

 Mexico and the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. It differs from the typical 

 form in having a large patch of rusty chestnut on the abdomen. 



Plumed or Mountain Partridges. Characterized by a tail of twelve feathers 

 and a conspicuous crest of long black feathers are the Plumed or Mountain 

 Partridges (Oreortyx), of which two or three well-marked forms are known, all 

 of the extreme Western States. They are handsome birds, ten and a half to 

 eleven and a half inches long, plain brown or olive above, and bluish gray and 

 chestnut below, with the throat and fore neck margined by a white band, and 

 the flanks barred with black and white; the females are similar except that 

 the crest is usually smaller. The Mountain Partridge, or Mountain Quail (O. 

 pictus}, is found in the Pacific coast districts from Santa Barbara, California, 

 to Washington, being confined to the moist mountainous regions where the 

 rainfall is very heavy. In the dryer interior it is replaced by a lighter colored 

 race, the Plumed Partridge (O. p. plumiferus], which occurs on both sides of 

 the Sierra Nevada from Oregon southward. Both are resident and breeding 

 wherever found, the latter, according to Bendire, being "essentially a bird of 

 the mountains, where it is more partial to the open pine forests and rocky ridges, 

 covered with chaparral and undergrowth, than to the densely timbered portions 

 of the ranges. They are shy birds, preferring to escape by running rather 

 than by taking wing, although they can fly swiftly if they will." The call note 

 of the male is a clear whistle, like " whu-ie-whu-ie," usually uttered from an old 



