THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 73 



sists of the buds of the hickory, beech and birch, and also 

 fruit blossoms. 



€rrm€se, RufTed^ Partridge or Pheasant. — Length, 

 eighteen inches; extent, twenty-three inches; bill, half an 

 inch, horn color. Plumage above, reddish brown, most of 

 the feathers with buff central stripes and finely mottled 

 with black and gray; neck with a tuft of broad ended 

 black feathers which project beyond the rest of the plum- 

 age and are erectile at will; upper surface of wings like 

 the back; the long outer feathers dull brown, with light 

 spots on their edges; tail, rusty brown, transversely 

 mottled with black, and with broad terminal black and 

 gray bands; under surface white, becoming buff on the 

 breast and throat, and transversely barred with brown, 

 except on the throat and center of Mie body; flanks with 

 broad black bars. Female similar, but with the neck . 

 tufts rudimentary or wanting. In southern New Jersey 

 this bird is commonly called a pheasant, while the name 

 partridge prevails in the northern part of the state. 



The nest is built in April of leaves and grass on the 

 ground, in underbrush or at the base of the stump of a tree 

 or the side of a log. The eggs are from eight to fourteen 

 in number, of a pale brownish yellow, one and a half by 

 one and one-tenth inches in size. , 



The birds breed in the eastern United States as far 

 south as Georgia and remain all year. 



The male is in the habit of drumming on logs and fall- 

 en trees and the cry of the bird is a rup-rup-rup-rupr-r- 



The food of the bird consists of berries and insects, 

 principally ants; in the fall, also seeds and chestnuts; in 

 the winter leaves, and in the spring buds. 



€rti!ll, Black-Headed. — See Laughing Gull. 



Crull^ Black-Headed., or Saddleback. — Length, 

 twenty-nine inches; bill, two and a half inches; head and 



