_Ortyx squamatus_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Journ. V, 1830, 275.—ABERT, Pr.
A. N. Sc. III, 1847, 221. _Callipepla squamata_, GRAY, Gen. III,
1846, 514.—M’CALL, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, 1851, 222.—CASSIN, Ill. I, v,
1854, 129; pl. xix.—GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xix.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 646.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 23.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867,
78.—HEERM. X, _C_, 19.—COOP. Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 556. _Callipepla
strenua_, WAGLER, Isis, XXV, 1832, 278. _Tetrao cristata_, DE LA
LLAVE, Registro trimestre, I, 1832, 144.
SP. CHAR. Head with a full, broad, flattened crest of soft elongated
feathers. Prevailing color plumbeous-gray, with a fine bluish cast on
jugulum and nape, whitish on the belly, the central portion of which is
more or less tinged with brownish; sometimes a conspicuous abdominal
patch of dark rusty, the exposed surface of the wings tinged with light
yellowish-brown, and very finely and almost imperceptibly mottled. Head
and throat without markings, light grayish-plumbeous; throat tinged
with yellowish-brown. Feathers of neck, upper part of back, and under
parts generally, except on the sides and behind, with a narrow but
well-defined margin of blackish, producing the effect of imbricated
scales. Feathers on the sides streaked centrally with white. Inner edge
of inner tertials, and tips of long feathers of the crest, whitish.
Crissum rusty-white, streaked with rusty. Female similar. Length, 9.50;
wing, 4.80; tail, 4.10.
HAB. Table-lands of Mexico and valley of Rio Grande of Texas. Most
abundant on the high broken table-lands and mesquite plains.
[Illustration: =9386= ♂
_Callipepla squamata._]
HABITS. This bird was first described as a Mexican species in 1830 by
Mr. Vigors. For a long while it has been an extremely rare species in
collections, and its history, habits, and distribution remained unknown
until the explorations of the naturalists made in the surveys under
the direction of the national government. It was first noticed within
the territory of the United States by Lieutenant Abert, Topographical
Engineer, who, in his Report of the examination of New Mexico, furnishes
several notes in relation to this species. In November, 1846, he
mentions that, after having passed through Las Casas, while descending
through a crooked ravine strewed with fragments of rocks, he saw
several flocks of this species. They were running along with great
velocity among the clumps of the kreosote plant. At the report of the
gun only three or four rose up, the rest seeming to depend chiefly on
their fleetness of foot. Their stomachs were found to be filled with
grass-seeds and hemipterous insects.
[Illustration: _Callipepla squamata._]
Captain S. G. French, in notes quoted by Mr. Cassin, mentions meeting
with these birds, in the same year, near Camargo, on the Rio Grande.
At Monterey none were seen; but on the plains of Agua Nueva, a few
miles south of Saltillo, they were observed in considerable numbers. He
afterwards met with them on the Upper Rio Grande, in the vicinity of El
Paso. Though found in the same section of country with Gambel’s Quail,
they were not observed to associate together in the same flock. Their
favorite resorts were sandy chaparral and mesquite bushes. Through these
they ran with great swiftness, resorting only, when greatly alarmed by
a sudden approach, to their wings. They were very shy, and were seldom
found near habitations, though once a large covey ran through his camp
in the suburbs of El Paso.
Colonel McCall (Proc. Phil. Ac. V, p. 222) mentions meeting with this
species throughout an extended region, from Camargo, on the Lower Rio
Grande, to Santa Fé. They were most numerous between the latter place
and Doña Ana, preferring the vicinity of watercourses to interior
tracts. They were wild, exceedingly watchful, and swift of foot, eluding
pursuit with surprising skill, scarcely ever resorting to flight even on
the open sandy ground. For the table they are said to possess, in a high
degree, the requisites of plump muscle and delicate flavor.
In a subsequent sketch of this species, quoted by Mr. Cassin, the same
writer gives as the habitat the entire valley of the Rio Grande,—a
territory of great extent from north to south, and embracing in its
stretch between the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico every variety
of climate. This entire region, not excepting even the mountain valleys
covered in winter with deep snow, is inhabited by it. It was found by
him from the 25th to the 38th degree of north latitude, or from below
Monterey, in Mexico, along the borders of the San Juan River, as high up
as the Taos and other northern branches of the Rio Grande. He also found
it near the head of the Riado Creek, which rises in the Rocky Mountains
and runs eastwardly to the Canadian.
Wherever found, they are always resident, proving their ability to
endure great extremes of heat and cold. In swiftness of foot, no species
of this family can compete with them. When running, they hold their
heads high and keep the body erect, and seem to skim over the surface of
the ground, their white plume erected and spread out like a fan.
On the Mexican side of the Rio Grande this species is found farther
south than on the western bank, owing to the rugged character of the
country. In Texas its extreme southern point is a little above Reinosa,
on the first highlands on the bank.
Don Pablo de la Llave, a Mexican naturalist, states, in an account of
this species (Registro Trimestre, I, p. 144, Mexico, 1832), that he
attempted its domestication in vain. In confinement it was very timid,
all its movements were rapid, and, although he fed his specimens for a
long time each day, they seemed to become more wild and intractable. It
was found by him in all the mesquite regions of Northern Mexico.
Specimens of this Partridge were taken near San Pedro, Texas, by Mr.
J. H. Clark, and in New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch. According to
Mr. Clark, they are not found on the grassy prairies near the coast.
He met with them on Devil’s River, in Texas, where his attention was
at first directed to them by their very peculiar note, which, when
first heard, suggested to him the cry of some species of squirrel. In
the valley of the Lower Rio Grande he also met with these birds in
companies of a dozen or more. Their food, on the prairies, appeared
to be entirely insectivorous; while on the Lower Rio Grande all the
specimens that were procured had their bills stained with the berries
of the opuntia. They were not shy, and would rather get out of the way
by running than by flying. At no time, and under no circumstances, were
they known to alight in bushes or in trees. They were only known to make
mere scratches in the ground for nests, and their situations were very
carelessly selected. Young birds were found in June and in July.
Lieutenant Couch first met with this species about sixty leagues west of
Matamoras, and not until free from the prairies and bottom-land. It was
occasionally noticed, apparently associating with the _Ortyx texana_, to
which it is very similar in habit.
Dr. Kennerly found them everywhere where there was a permanent supply of
fresh water, from Limpia Creek, in Texas, to San Bernardino, in Sonora.
They were met with on the mountain-sides, or on the hills among the
low mesquite-bushes and barrea. They apparently rely more upon their
legs than upon their wings, ascending the most precipitous cliffs or
disappearing among the bushes with great rapidity.
The most western point at which Dr. Heermann observed this species was
the San Pedro River, a branch of the Gila, east of Tucson. There a flock
of these birds ran before him at a quick pace, with outstretched necks,
heads elevated, crests erect and expanded, and soon disappeared among
the thick bushes that surrounded them on all sides. After that they
were seen occasionally until they arrived at Lympia Springs. Lieutenant
Barton informed Dr. Heermann that he had procured this species near Fort
Clark, one hundred and twenty miles west of San Antonio, where, however,
it was quite rare. It was found abundantly on the open plains, often
starting up before the party when passing over the most arid portions
of the route. They also seemed partial to the prairie-dog villages.
These, covering large tracts of ground destitute of vegetation, probably
offered the attraction of some favorite insect.
Dr. Woodhouse met with this species on only one occasion, as the party
was passing up the Rio Grande, at the upper end of Valleverde, on the
west side of the river, on the edge of the sand-hills, feeding among the
low bushes. They were exceedingly shy and quick-footed. He tried in vain
to make them fly, and they evidently preferred their feet to their wings
as a means of escape. He was told that they were found above Santa Fé.
Mr. Dresser found this species on the Rio Grande above Roma, and between
the Rio Grande and the Nueces they were quite abundant; wherever found,
they seemed to have the country to themselves to the exclusion of other
species. He reports them as very difficult to shoot, for the reason
that, whenever a bevy is disturbed, the birds scatter, and, running with
outstretched necks and erected crests, dodge through the bushes like
rabbits, so as soon to be out of reach. He has thus seen a flock of ten
or fifteen disappear so entirely as to render it impossible to obtain a
single one. If left undisturbed, they commence their call-note, which
is not unlike the chirp of a chicken, and soon reunite. It was utterly
out of the question to get them to rise, and the only way to procure
specimens was to shoot them on the ground. Near the small villages in
Mexico he found them very tame; and at Presidio, on the Rio Grande, he
noticed them in a corral, feeding with some poultry. He did not meet
with their eggs, but they were described to him, by the Mexicans, as
dull white, with minute reddish spots.
The egg of the _Callipepla squamata_ is regularly oval, being much more
elongated than with any other species of this family. It measures 1.35
inches in length by .95 in breadth. Its ground-color is a creamy white,
and its surface is minutely freckled with specks of a pale drab.