603 



AVES— AMERICAN QUAIL. 



with her wings, as if sorely wounded ; using every artifice she is mistress 

 of, to entice the passenger in pursuit of herself, uttering at the same time 

 peculiar notes of alarm well understood by the young, who dive separately 

 among the grass, and secrete themselves till the danger is over; and the 

 parent, having decoyed the pursuer to a safe distance, returns by a circuitous 

 route to collect and lead them off. 



In the fall, the quails associate in flocks or coveys, of four or five and 

 thirty. At this time the notes of the male are frequent, loud, and distinct. 

 If is common call consists of two notes, and is similar to the sound produced 

 oy pronouncing the words " Bob White." This call may be imitated by 

 whistling, so as to deceive the bird itself, and bring it near. While uttering 

 this, the bird is usually perched on the rail of a fence or on a low limb of an 



apnle tree, where he will sometimes sit, repeating, at short intervals, " Bob 

 White," for half an hour at a time. 



The food of the partridge consists of grain, seeds, insects, and berries of 

 various kinds. Buckwheat and Indian corn are particular favorites. They 

 roost at nign t in the middle of a field on high ground. They fly with a 

 loud whizzing sound, occasioned by the shortness, concavity, and rapid mo- 

 tion of their wings, and the comparative Aveight of their bodies. The flesh 

 is peculiarly white, tender, and delicate. 



The quail is nine inches long. It is of a red brown color, sprinkled with 

 black. The under parts are Avhite, spotted with black, and the sides of the 

 Deck spotted with white. 



