220 



CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



Captain Beechey brought home several of these birds, but the females all died, and of the males 

 which were presented to the Zoological Society, scarcely one survived. 



Since this time several others have been imported to different parts of Europe, and two pairs 

 brought by Deschamps laid and hatched a numerous brood — other experimenters have been equally 

 successful. 



GAM BEL'S PARTRIDGE. 



GaiMBel's Partridge {LopJwrtyx Gambelii) resembles the species last described in its 

 general appearance, but has the black patch on the face larger, and only a very small portion of 



THE CALIFORNIAN PARTRIDGE [I.opliortyx Californianus). 



the brow is white. The back of the head is bright reddish brown, streaked with light yellow. All 

 its hues are brighter and more glossy than those of the Californian Partridge. 



"It was late in June," says Coues, "when I arrived in Arizona, where I heard that this Partridge 

 was especially plentiful. In my first day's sporting I stumbled, so to say, over a covey of young 

 poults that were just escaped from the egg, but the nimble little creatures ran and concealed 

 themselves with such wonderful celerity, that I could not catch a single one. I thought that I had 

 mistaken for them the Oreortyx pictus, and wondered to find young ones of these so late in the year. 

 But it was not yet late for Gambel's Partridge, as I found several broods in August only a few 

 days old. In the following year I observed that the old birds had paired by the end of April, and 

 at the beginning of June I saw the first young ones. I would also notice that breeding goes on 

 rapidly in the months of May, June, July, and August, and that probably two or possibly three broods 



