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 Sept., x9o7 THE GAMBEL PARTRIDGE IN' CALIFORNIA x49 Twenty-nine Palms and Virginia Dale, as well as others toward Palo Verde and the Colorado River, is found this quail. They range upward to at least 4000 feet and at favorable points are found in proximity to the Plumed Partridge ( O'eo'lyx p[clus plumilex'us). At other places the Valley Partridge (Lophorlyx cahybrncus vallcola) joins in and the three species occupy the same territory. At Snow Creek at the north base of San Jaeinto Peak I have shot the three species and carried them home in the same bag. Near Banning mixed flocks of ambeli and vallicola have been seen and the Plumed, or Mountain Quail as it is more commonly called, only a short distance away. In canyons at Palm Springs the three can be found, and on Pinyon Flats, altitude of 4,000 feet, lying about fifteen miles south of Palm Springs, I have seen the three species drink from the same spring in course of half an hour. I have heard of hybrids between gambeli and vallicola being shot near White- water but know nothing positive about it. I have shot Valley Quail at Whitewater and at Palm Springs very light in color and with top of head approaching the red of gambeh' but with none of the distinctive breast markings. Desert surroundings might account for the variation from type. Or perhaps a cross between the two would not be a true hybrid and by mating with the California side of its parentage most of the gambeli markings would be lost. I should like expert opinions as to the possibility of a cross between L. gambeh' and L. vallcola proving fertile in- stead of hybrid. The structural differences seem slight or nil, and coloration so much a matter of environment. The same question has been discussed in TI: Co)Ol concerning hybrid Flickers and no conclusion arrived at. But it seems to me that experiments with the partridges could be easily made and something definite learned. I have had Valley Partridges lay eggs in captivity; and with big enough enclosures, experiments with the two species should yield results. Xhiprock, JVew Mexico. NESTING OF THE BI-COLORED BLACKBIRD By H. F. DUPREY VERY collector living near a tule marsh is well acquainted with one of our most common birds, Agelaius g'ubernalor californicus. Seven miles west of Santa Rosa, California, lies the Lagoon, grown with tules, weeds, water lilies, willows, etc., a tangled mass of swamp. For several years past I have paid this swamp a visit to gather tribute in the way of the eggs of the Bi~color. While Davie in his "Nests and Eggs" says that the nesting habits of Bi-color "are exactly the same as the eastern Redwing" (Agelaius phwniceus) the nests being placed in water-cress or rushes along rumting streams, ditches and swamps, in this lagoon I speak of I have in most cases found the nest fastened to three or four stalks of rule 18 to 24 inches above the surface of the water. Then again I have found the nests fastened to young willows growing along the banks of the lagoon. In Solano County I have found a great many nests attached to wild mustard growing in the grain fields several miles from any body of water. This wild mustard grows in patches in the fields, and in a space of 40 or 50 feet square grown up with mus- tard it is quite common to find seven or eight pairs nesting. It is also common to find nests in low swales in the fields that carry water in the winter and spring and