126 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— PARTRIDGES 



used, and sometimes the birds lie fairly well to them, 

 but such conduct is exceptional. 



Many of the birds were formerly taken in traps, and 

 some years ago, when they were extremely abundant, 

 they were shot by market gunners on the ground and 

 sold in large numbers in the San Francisco markets. 

 The Indians use the plumes plucked from the head to 

 decorate their baskets. 



The smaller birds are always the most abundant. 

 The flocks are often large. The larger birds are never 

 seen in large flocks, and are found, as their name would 

 indicate, in the hills and mountains. 



The crest or plume of the mountain partridge con- 

 sists of two straight black feathers much longer than 

 the bill and head. The crest of the valley-bird is also 

 black, but short and narrow at the base, widening out 

 and curving forward at the tip. 



THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE 



The mountain partridge and the sub-species known 

 as the plumed partridge and the San Pedro partridge, 

 are, to sportsmen, the same. The range of these birds 

 is from Southern California north to Washington ; 

 the mountain partridge being assigned by the ornithol- 

 ogists to the region north of San Francisco Bay, 

 the plumed and San Pedro partridges to regions 

 south of the bay. The mountain partridge has been 

 introduced on Vancouver Island. I first observed 

 these birds many years ago when they were quite 

 tame. They were in small flocks and took to their 

 legs, or flew away on whirring wings. 



