486 
MASSE NA PARTRIDGE . 
evening during short intervals, for about an hour. When the brood is grown and dispersed, 
the call is said to be qua-el , qua-el. Like the other species, it feeds on insects and berries. It 
is so tame that it fearlessly resorts to the Mexican villages to feed with the poultry around 
the ranches, and readily becomes partly domesticated. When pursued, it rarely flies, but 
trusts to its feet as the safest aid to escape. It raises two and, sometimes, three broods in a 
season. A single brood sometimes has twenty young. It is said to have three distinct notes : 
the common cry, a single mellow clear clink, with a metallic resonance, then a clear loud 
energetic whistle, resembling the syllables killink , kiZlink , heard mostly in the pairing season, 
and is analogous to the Bob- White of the common Quail. The third is the love song, which, 
Br. Coues says, is most unmusical. It is uttered by the male while the mate is incubating. 
CALIFORNIA QUAIL.— Lophorlyx cali/omicu. 
This song is poured forth at sunrise and at sunset, from the topmost twig near the spot where 
his mate is sitting, while with outstretched neck and drooping wings, and plume negligently 
dangling, he gives utterance to his odd, guttural notes. 
The flight of this Quail is remarkably rapid, even, and direct. 
Scaled or Blue Partridge ( Callipeqpla squamatd). This species inhabits the entire 
valley of the Rio Grande, which embraces every variety of climate. It is always resident 
where found. It is wild and watchful, and exceedingly swift of foot, rivalling all other 
species in this respect, and seldom or never resorting to flight for escape. Its quality as an 
edible is superior. Quite unlike other species, it seems to be intractable, resisting all attempts 
at domestication, though in Mexico it is said to be in the habit of visiting the ranches to pick 
up grains. 
Massexa Partridge ( Cyrtonyx massena) has somewhat the same range of habitat as 
the preceding, along the valley of the Rio Grande. It is said to be much more retiring than 
other species, living far from the habitations of man, and preferring thickly-wooded places. 
Its habits are quite different from all others. Its peculiar form is owing to a habit of carrying 
