QUAILOLOGY - ORNITHOLOGY 



21 



California Partridge. 



NESTS AND EGGS 



The nests of this species are slimsy affairs, placed along side of 

 a rock, log or old stump, under a pile of brush or in a bunch of 

 grass or weeds. Occasionally it is placed in a perfectly open 

 situation without any concealment. Now and then a hens nest 

 in a chicken house is used, and unusual sites are often reported, 

 but rarely in trees. Incubation twenty-one days. Occasionally 

 two broods are reared in a season. The eggs, twelve to sixteen 

 in number (as many as twenty-one have been recorded) , are 

 beautifully marked. The ground color is creamy-white, occasion- 

 ally a decidedly buff set is found, marked with spots and blotches 

 of dark chestnut-brown, olivacous drab and golden russett, gen- 

 erally evenly scattered; shape resembling the Bob White. 



HABITS 



This handsome bird, commonly called the Valley or Top-knot 



