go AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
“During incubation the male is very attentive and 
watchful, usually taking an elevated position near the 
nest, where, with crest erect and tail spread, he bids 
defiance to all intruders, uttering an oft repeated 
whew-whew-whew. When the breeding hen leaves the 
nest to feed, should he be absent from the post of duty, 
her cry of tobacco-tobacco, very plainly given, brings 
him up at once... . 
“As soon as the young are hatched they immediately 
leave the nest, keeping under cover as much as possi- 
ble. Should the brood be disturbed, the old birds will 
run and flutter along the ground to draw the attention 
of the dog, or whatever may have frightened them, to 
themselves and away from the young. In about ten 
days these can fly a short distance. The valley par- 
tridge feeds on insects and the young and tender leaves 
of clover and green peas; later, on grain and various 
small seeds; in the fall they eat wild grapes, and are 
also very partial to the seeds of the amaranth, alse those 
of Mentzelia levicaulis. Here only one brood is raised 
in a season, and incubation, as nearly as I can ascertain, 
lasts about twenty-eight days.” 
The eggs of this species range from 12 to 16, nests 
occasionally, as already stated, containing many more. 
The eggs are cream-white in color, spotted and blotched 
with different shades of dark and light brown and drab 
scattered over the whole egg. 
