444 MASSENA QUAIL — CYKTONYX MASSENA. 



it was very common. This regiou 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 

 limestonCj 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 principal growth being Cacti, of which the most common is Cactus 

 arboreseens ; 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 "clucJc" 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 oppo- 

 site of those manifested by the Scaly Partridge {Gallipepla squamata), 

 which I always observed to be, though found perchance in grounds as 

 little frequented as these, remarkably vigilant, shy, and difficult to ap- 

 proach. The call or signal note of this species is peculiar. I never 

 saw it after crossing the Pecos." 



This account of the gentle and confiding disposition of the Masseua 

 Quail, so at variance with the character of nearly all the other species, 

 agrees entirely with the representations which were made to me at Fort 

 Whipple ; and the same trait has also been noticed by other writers. 

 Don Pablo de la Llave noticed it in his original account of the birds in 

 the following terms, which I copy from Mr. Cassin's translation of his 



article: " and in everything it shows an amiability, and, so to 



speak, a kindness of character [iina bondad de caracter) which is not 

 found in any other species of this genus, and it is naturally so tame and 

 domestic as to permit itself to be caught with the hand." So, also, Dr. 

 Woodhouse, in the following paragraph from Sitgreave's Eeport : 



"My attention was first called to this beautiful bird a few miles be- 

 yond the head of the Eio San Pedro, where we started three of them, 

 and Major Backus succeeded in procuring a female specimen, which is 

 now in my collection. This was the only time that I observed this bird. 

 Captain S. G. French, Assistant-Quartermaster United States Army, in- 

 forms me that in the year 1849, when he first passed over this road, he 

 met with these birds in a number of localities — at the head of the San 

 Pedro, Howard's Springs, and also at the Eagle Springs — showing evi- 

 dently that it has a range over the country lying between the Eio 

 Grande and San Pedro Eivers. He also stated that he had never met 

 with it near the settlements, but always among the wild, rocky, and 

 almost barren hills of this country. They are more sociable and not so 

 shy as others of the same family. Their food appears to be principally 

 insects." 



To give, as nearly as possible, a complete view of what has been put 

 on record concerning the habits of the beautiful Massena, I continue 

 with the following quotations from the notes made by the naturalists of 

 the Mexican Boundary Survey. It will be noticed that Mr. Clark's 

 account is considerably at variance with those just presented : 



