PRAIRIE HEN-PARTRIDGE-GROUSE-SAGE COCK-CORN CRAKE-KING RAIL, ETC. 179 



hollow tree, of mesquite twigs, and it lays from two to four pure 

 white eggs. * 



Texas Prairie Hen. ( Cupidonia cupido, var. pallidtcincta.) 



Fig. 3- 



A late Texas variety of the typical bird, an account of which is 

 found on Plate LV, fig. i, page 81. 



Massena Partridge. ( Cyrtonyx massena?) 



Fig. 4- 



For a long time this beautiful bird was only known as a resident 

 of Mexico. Late observations found it a resident of some of the 

 Pacific States. Col. McCall, in his interesting account of this 

 bird, says : 



"The species was not seen before crossing the San Pedro, but 

 it was not long before it made its appearance in the waste and rocky 

 regions into which we then entered. And from that time until we 

 reached the Rio Pecos, a distance of one hundred and forty miles 

 (westwardly by the route we traveled), it was frequently seen, 

 though I should not say it was very common. This region is a 

 desert of great length from north to south, our trail crossing it at 

 nearly right angles. The general face of the country is level, and 

 consists of either a crumbling argillaceous limestone, or a coarse, 

 gray sand, producing nothing but a sparse growth of sand plants. 

 Water is found only at long intervals, and, except at those points, 

 there is little cover for game, and apparently less food — the prin- 

 cipal growth being cacti, of which the most common is cactus 

 arborescens ; yet here, among projecting rocks, or on the borders 

 of dry gullies or in loose scrub, I found the Massena Partridge in 

 all the beauty of his rich and varied plumage. 



" The habits of this species are different from those of any other 

 species of Partridge that I have met with. They were in coveys 

 of from eight to twelve individuals, and appeared to be extremely 

 simple and affectionate in disposition. In feeding they separated 

 but little, keeping up a social "cluck" all the time. They were 

 so gentle as to evince little or no alarm on the appearance of man, 

 scarcely moving out of his way as he passed, and only running off 

 or flying a few yards, when perhaps half their number were laid 

 low by a shot. This inclined me to think that they might with 

 little difficulty be domesticated, although I found them here in a 

 barren, boundless waste, and nowhere near the habitation of man. 

 This trait of gentleness is the very opposite of those manifested by 

 the Scaly Partridge (Calli$ej)la squamatd), which I always ob- 

 served to be, though found perchance in grounds as little frequented 

 as these, remarkably vigilant, shy, and difficult to approach. The 

 call or signal note of this species is peculiar. I never saw it after 

 crossing the Pecos." 



Dr. Coues well says : 



" There are two points in the history of this species to which at- 

 tention may profitably be directed. One is the bird's remarkable 

 unsophistication. Living in what we should consider lonely deso- 

 lation, but which is to it a happy home, the bird has not yet learned 

 to throw aside the gentle, confiding disposition its Maker gave. No 

 contract with the lords of the universe, guardians of civilization and 

 progress, jobbers in ethics and aesthetics, has yet begotten in its in- 

 genious nature the wholesome change that the requirements of self- 

 preservation will some day demand, and which it will instinctively 

 adopt. Birds that live in populous districts have had a lesson to learn 

 of bitter experience, and its fruits have been instilled through gen- 

 eration after generation, till a second nature replaces the first, and 

 a shrewd distrust of the whole human race is instilled. It is a 

 nauseous dose that these Quail, like innocent children, have to 

 swallow ; but the medicine acts vigorously and beneficially, heart- 

 longings and soul-breathings, and the like, giving way to some- 



thing more substantial and sensible. Some day a fine old Cock 

 Massena shall say to his family, Himeo Danaos et dona ferentes f 

 the newly-born wisdom shall take well, and become gospel to suc- 

 ceeding generations, to outlive in the code of Quail ethics the 

 memory of the JEneid in the mind of men." 



Sitkan, or Oregon Dusky Grouse. (Tetrao obscurus, var. fuliginosus.') 



Fig. 5- 



A northwest coast variety of the typical species, represented on 

 Plate CXV, fig. 3, page 175, met with from Oregon to Sitka. 



Richardson's Dusky Grouse. {Tetrao obscurus, var. richardsoni.) 



Fig. 6. 



This is also a variety of the Dusky Grouse, represented on Plate 

 CXV, fig. 3, page 175, which has for its habitat the Rocky 

 Mountains of British America, south to the Yellowstone and Hell- 

 gate regions of the United States. 



Sage Cock; Cock of the Plains. (Centrocercus uropnaslanus.) 

 Fig. 7. 



The Sage Cock has for its residence a restricted part of the 

 western section of North America, known as dry and sterile 

 regions, where the artemtsia, or sage-brush, abounds, and which 

 constitutes its principal food. It is the largest of our species of 

 Grouse, weighing about six pounds, and is also the most unpalata- 

 ble for table use. The nest is constructed of dry grass and 

 slender twigs built under the sage-bushes. Its low song consists 

 of syllables resembling hurr-hurr-r-r-r-hoo , ending with a gut- 

 tural noise. 



Corn Crake; Land Rail. (Crex pratensis.) 



Fig. 8. 



A well known species of Europe, that occasionally visits the 

 eastern coast of the United States from Greenland. Marshy 

 meadows, fields of green corn, and beds of reeds and rushes are 

 its favorite resorts, and in there its peculiar creaking note is con- 

 stantly to be heard. According to Yarrell, this call maybe exactly 

 imitated by passing the edge of the thumb-nail or a piece of wood, 

 briskly along the line of the points of the teeth of a small comb, 

 and so similar is the sound, that the bird may be decoyed by it 

 within a very short distance. This discordant cry is continually 

 uttered by the male until a mate is found, and incubation is com- 

 menced, after which it is heard less frequent. The flesh of this bird 

 is good for the table. 



California King Rail. (Rallus elegans, var. obsoletus.) 



Fig- 9- 



This bird is a California coast variety of the King Rail, Plate 

 LXXIX, fig. 4, page 124. 



Bartramian Sandpiper, or Tattler; Upland Plover. 



tramius.') 



Fig. 10. 



(Aetiturus bar- 



The following extracts are taken from Dr. Coues interesting ac- 

 count of this species : 



" Bartram's Tattler, or the ' Upland Plover,' as it is generally 

 called by sportsmen, is a bird of wide and general dispersion in 

 the Western Hemisphere, while its casual occurrence in Europe 



