I'KUDICID.K — TlIK I'Ain'lllIXHiH. 4^5 



Tcrritciry lie oanic iipnii u ludiMl tluit wiis jiist (uit n|' (lu> c^'ir, Tlii'v wt'ic 

 li(i\vt!V(.'r, so activr, iiml liid tlifiiist'lvcs so (Icxtcrimsly, tluiL lir could uol 

 t'litcli one. Tills wiiH lull! in -Inly, and tiirouj,'liout the loUowin;,' month he 

 met broods only a few days old. The I'oUowinj,' siiriu^' he Ibiind the old 

 Mills mated by A|)i'il L'.'i, and met with the first chick on the first of dime. 

 lie inf'eis that this sjiecies is in incubation during the whole of May, dune, 

 duly, and a i)art of August, and that they nii.se two, and (tveii three, broods 

 in a season. 



A single brood .sonuitimes emliraces from fifteen to twenty young, which 

 by Octoiier are nearly as large as their pariMUs. Whih; umler tiie care of 

 the latter they keep very chise together, and when alarmed eitiier run away 

 rapidly or .scpiat so closely as to be difficult tu flu.sh, and, when forced up, 

 they .soon alight again. They often take to h)W limbs of trees, huddle 

 closely together, and permit a close approach. Tiie f'rst intimation that a 

 bevy is near is a single note rej)eated two or three times, followed liy the 

 rustling of leaves as the tloek start to run. 



The.se birds are .said to be found. in almost every l'^"ality except thick 

 pine-woods without undergrowth, and are particu'arly fond fif thick willow 

 copses, heavy chaparral, and i)riery undergrowth. They prefer .seeds and 

 fruit, l)ut insects also form a large jiart of their food. In the early s])ring 

 they feed extensively on the tender fresh buds of yoiing willow.s, which 

 give t<i their fle.sh a bitter ta.ste. 



This (^)uail is said to have three distinct notes, — the common cry uttered 

 on all occasions of alarm or to call the bevy together, which is a single mel- 

 low clear "chink,'' with a metallic resonance, repeated an indefinite niiml)er 

 of times; then a clear, loud, energetic whi.stle, re.semliling the syllables 

 hilliiik-killi.ilc, chiefly heard during the i)airing-season, and is analogous to 

 the hoh-vliilf of the common (^uail ; the third is its love-.song, than which. 

 Dr. (,'oues ailds, nothing more unmusical can well be imagined. It is 

 littered by the male, and only when the female is incubating. This song is 

 poured forth both at sunrise and at sunset, from sonu; topmost twig near 

 the spot where his mate is sitting on her treasures ; and with outstretched 

 neck, drooping wings, and plume negligently dangling, he gives utterance to 

 his odd, guttural, energetic notes. 



The flight of these birds is exceedingly rapid and vigorous, and is always 

 oven and direct, and in shooting only re(|uircs a (juick bund and eye. 



Tn his journi\y from Arizona to the I'acitic, Dr. Coues found these birds 

 singularly abundant along the valley of the Colorado ; and he was again 

 struck with its indifference as to its place of residence, being ecpially at 

 home in scorched mesijuite thickets, dusting itself in sand that would blis- 

 ter the naked feet, the thermometer at 117° Fall, in the shade, and in the 

 mountains (jf Northern Arizona, when the pine boughs were bending under 

 the weight of the snow. He also states that Dr. Coojjer, while at Fort 

 Mohave, brought up some young Gambel's Quails by placing the eggs under 



