1'KU1)1C[D.E — THE PAUTKIDGES. 4yi 



wlioii youiij,', and it luis been thence inlerred that sevenil females boloni,' to 

 one niiiK, and wilh tlieir liroods all run lonothcr. 



Dr. Kennei'ly state.s that his \Y,niy lirst met with this beantiinl ravtrid,L,'e 

 upon reaching the waters of the ^lohave itiver, and during the march up the 

 stream he found it very aliundant, as well as anumg the settlements along 

 tlie coast. 1I(! couhl perceive no dillerence in its habits from those of 

 Loph orfi/.i: (ja in luii. 



L)r. Heennann states that he found the ('alifornia (,)uail very numerous as 

 far south as Vallecita, where conunences the desert that extends to the 

 Colorado, forming an apjjarently impassal)le barrier between it and the close- 

 ly allied species, (tambel's Partridge. WIumi Hushed from the ground, it in- 

 variably Hies to the trees, if in a wooded country, where it sijuats so closely 

 lengthwise on a branch that it can rarely be seen when thus hidden. It 

 will not lie to a dog, but runs until it is forced to Hy. It may be readily 

 tamed, and in California is often domesticated with the poultry. Several 

 years since, according to Dr. Hecrmann, an attemjit was made to introduce 

 these birds into Long Island, which at iii'st promised to be successful; but 

 unfortunately, after the first season, they wore all exterminated by the gun- 

 ners for the New York market. 



iMr. liidgway met with this species only on the west slope of the Sierra 

 Nevada, and at an altitiule of not more than four or five thousand feet. He 

 had no opportunity to learn anything in regard to its habits, but was enabled 

 to listen to its notes. The call-note of the male is very peculiar, and re- 

 sembles somewhat the syllaljles Inck-knck-kee, the accent being on the last 

 .syllable. The connuon note of the male bird, when disturbed with its mate 

 in the bushes, and proliably having a brood of young in the vicinity, was a 

 sharp 2)(V, precisely like the common note of the Cardinal (Jrosbcak. 



The nest of this bird is made in the oi)en field, or at the foot of a Inish, 

 and is compo.sed of loose grasses arranged without much care. The eggs are 

 .said to be twelve or sixteen in number, and are yellowish or grayish white, 

 spotted and dashed with dark brown or liurnt-unilier. 



Mr. Titian IJ. Peale, in his Notes on the Wilkes expedition, mentions ob- 

 serving this si)ecies in the mountainous regions of Southern Oregon, near the 

 43d degree of north latitude, wliich he regarded as their farthest northern 

 range. He fre(]uently observed them collecting at night to roost in trees. 

 At such times their call-note was plaintive, and had a .slight resemblance to 

 the words ciif-cut-cnt-mr-fon. Sjteohnens of this bird were taken alive, kept 

 by niembei-s of tlie expedition, and brought to the city of Washington by a 

 route equal to the circumference of the globe, where they produced one brood 

 of young. 



Soda Lake, the "sink" of the ^NFohave River, the beil of which is usually 

 quite dry, except in spots, for many miles, is said by Dr. Cones to be just 

 where tliis si)ecies and the L. (fornhvU find a neutml ground, the western 

 l)ird following the watercourses until arrested by the desert. 



vol.. in. (il 



