ZOOLOGY — BIEDS. 61 



their probable vicinity was given by large quantities of their feathers strewed on the ground in 

 the neighborhood of some deserted Indian huts. The single flock I met with, however, was so 

 wild that it could not be approached. Later I observed them on the Big Lagoon of New river, 

 which they had probably reached by following the river banks at the time of the overflow of the 

 Colorado. At Fort Yuma they were quite abundant, congregating in large coveys, frequenting 

 the thick underwood in the vicinity of the mesquite trees. I found, on dissection, their stomachs 

 filled with the mesquite bean, a few grass seeds, and the berry of a parasite plant growing here 

 in great quantities, and affording at certain seasons a dainty meal to the deer, who seek it with 

 great avidity. On being suddenly flushed these birds separate very widely, but immediately 

 upon alighting commence their call note, resembling the soft chirp of a young chicken. This 

 note is kept up for some time, each individual fowj seeming to vie with the others in repeating 

 it. The alarm past and the flock once more reunited, they relapse into silence, only broken by 

 the occasional cluck of the male bird. Once scattered, unless closely marked, they are not 

 readily started again, as they hug or lie close in their thick, bushy, and impenetrable coverts. 

 Dr, Milhau, U. S. A., then stationed at Fort Yuma, informed me that in spring the Indians 

 catch them in snares and bring them in numbers for sale. 



CALLIPEPLA PICTA, D ou glass .—Plumed Partridge. 



CalUpepla picta, GoniJ)'s Odontophorinae. 



Ortyx plumifera, (Gould,) Aud. B. of A. Oct. vol. V, p. 69, pi. 391. 



Known by the miners and hunters of California as the mountain quail, from the localities 

 which it prefers. They are wild and difiicult to procure, flying and scattering at the least 

 symptom of danger, and recalling each other together with a note expressive of great solicitude, 

 which much resembles that of the hen turkey gathering her brood around her. During the 

 survey I observed them only once, and then but for a few minutes, as we passed through a deep 

 canon leading down to Elizabeth lake. Our hunters saw them on the mountains surrounding 

 Tejon valley, but though I went several times in search of them I procured none. 



TETEAO OroSCUKUS, Say .—Dusky Grouse. 



Tetrao obscurus, Sat, Long's Ex. to Eky. Mts. vol. II, p. 14. — Bohap. Am. Orn. vol. Ill, p. 27, pi. 18. — Nctt. Om. 

 vol. I, p. 666.— AuD. B of A. Oct. vol. V, p 89, pi. 295.— Baied, Gen. Kep. 620. 



Abundant in the pine regions of California and Oregon. I have never met with this species, 

 though I have often heard of it as one of the game birds most frequently brought into the 

 markets of the small mining towns of northern California. 



GALLINULA GALEATA, L i c h t .—Florida Gallinule. 



Gallinida galeata, Nutt. Orn. vol. 11, p. 223.— Bonap. Am. Orn. vol. IV, p. 128, pi. 27, fig. 1. 

 Oallinvla cMoropus, Aud. B. of A. Oct. vol. V, p. 132, pi. 304. 



Found in the marshy valley districts, where it is not a rare bird. I procured several at 

 Elizabeth lake, associated with the American coot, (Fulica americana,) both of which species 

 were swimming in search of food among the reeds on its borders. 



FULICA AMERICANA, Q m e 1 .—American Coot. 



Fulica americana, Add. B. of A. Oct. vol. V, p. 138, pi. 305. — Nuit. Orn. vol. II, p. 229. 

 Fulica atra, WiLS. Am. Orn. vol. IX, p. 61, pi. 63, fig. I. 



Plentiful, being found on all the small lakes and ponds which checker the plains of California. 

 In the month of December we met with large numbers of these birds on the lakes of Warner's 



