NOTES AND 
THE Chestnut-bellied Scaled Partridge is a 
favourite game bird in the 
region where it is found (North 
Eastern Mexico and Lower Rio 
Grande Valley in Texas). 
These birds raise two broods to the season, 
and fifteen seems to be the average number 
of eggs they lay. The nest is simply a 
slight hollow scratched out in the sand, 
commonly under a clump of grass or close 
to a prickly pear bush. These birds are 
often found miles away from water, and in 
the most arid districts imaginable. They 
are very difficult to flush, and often: elude 
the sportsman by thei rapidly running 
over the ground through the scanty vegetation 
Chestnut 
Partridge. 
COMMENTS. 
without taking flight. To some extent their 
sombre plumage also protects them, simi- 
lating as it does the colour of the ground 
most frequently chosen for their habitat. 
Sometimes as many as thirty or forty birds 
occur in a single bevy, in rare instances 
as many an hundred or more. As in the 
case of all partridges, the young, when first 
hatched, are very beautiful little things, and 
very active. The food of the chestnut- 
bellied scaled partridge consists principally 
of certain seeds, berries, tender buds of 
plants, and a variety of insects. We are 
indebted to Dr. R. W. Shufeldt for the 
above information and for the photograph 
of the bird. 
CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED PARTRIDGE. 
(Callipepla squamata castanogastris.) 
189 
