THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES 133 



gambel's partridge 



Gambel's partridge is the same size and has much 

 the same appearance as the valley-bird of California. 

 It has a similar plume of black feathers on the head, 

 but the golden-brown area on the belly of the Cali- 

 fornia bird is replaced by black in Gambel's partridge. 

 The Gambel's partridge is the handsomer bird. 



Dr. Coues referred to the valleys of the Gila and 

 Colorado rivers as centres of abundance, and says, 

 " About Fort Yuma there were more quails to the 

 square mile than I ever saw elsewhere, and indeed I 

 could scarcely see how many more could w^ell have 

 been accommodated with food and hiding places." 



The young of this partridge are hatched in May, 

 and like those of other partridges they are extremely 

 precocious. The cock-bird utters a loud whistle dur- 

 ing the mating season entirely different, however, from 

 the notes of Bob-white. 



The coveys usually contain a dozen or more birds. 

 Coues says he never saw a covey containing more than 

 twenty birds, but larger coveys of fifty or more young 

 birds are reported, which may be accounted for either 

 by the fact that the birds are polygamous or possibly 

 several coveys have associated. These birds pack, like 

 the California partridge, into very large flocks late in 

 the year. 



Gambel's partridge flies with the usual loud whirring 

 noise, and when it takes wing within range presents 

 a similar mark to that of Bob-white; a 12-gauge is 

 the proper gun ; No. 8 the proper shot. Elliot says 

 this bird possesses the same disagreeable traits as the 



