i'J 



fii' 



It 



SCALED PARTRIDGE. 



CCALED Partridge, Blue, V/hite Top-Knot, and White 

 *^ Crested Quail, by all of which names this species is 

 known, is found from western Texas, through New 

 Mexico to southern Arizona in the United States, and 

 also south into northern Mexico. North and east of 

 the White and Mogallon mountains it does not seem 

 to go, while Fanin County, Texas, and the Colorado 

 River in Arizona, are the eastern and western limits of its 

 dispersion within our boundaries. My experience with 

 this beautiful bird has been gained in New Mexico, in 

 the southern portions, on the mesas lying near the Mo- 

 gallon Mountains, and westward into Arizona. It does 

 not frequent timber, but dwells in the open, on the high 

 plateaus, where the cactus grows, and for this reason it 

 is sometimes known as the Cactus Quail. It seems to 

 be independent of water, and frequents dry and sandy 

 districts, where vegetation is exceedingly sparse, indeed 

 almost absent, and where there is nothing to shelter it 

 either from the heat or its enemies, save a few clumps of 

 cacti, yuccas, and similar stunted plants, scattered over 

 the plain; and the more spiny and thorny the bushes 

 the more the Blue Quail loves to frequent them. 



This species goes in flocks sometimes of considerable 

 size, several broods probably joining together, and I have 

 always found them exceedingly shy and wary, commenc- 

 ing to run as soon as my presence was discovered. They 

 usually went in Indian file, following some one bird that 



Ik 



V 



I- / 



M 



. ■ 11 



fyH, 



49 



