50 Dr. E. Coues — Field Notes on Lophortyx gambeli. 



is exhaled from their fresh bodies ! Should the suddenly snapped 

 thread of home-thoughts float again before your mind, I am 

 sure you will exclaim, between a sigh and a smile, " There are 

 some things worth leaving home for, and ornithology is one of 

 themr 



Beautiful to the eye, soft to the touch, fragrant to the smell, 

 delicate to the palate, indeed, is the Plumed Quail — a superb 

 bird. Since the first one 1 saw, years ago, stuffed, and awkwardly 

 nailed to a bit of board to " grace " a museum, I have always 

 admired them ; and now that I have seen them alive, in their 

 homes, and handled them before the brightness of their eyes 

 was dimmed, and kept the little chicks as pets, I love and ad- 

 mire them the more, and think there is scarcely another bird 

 in our country so beautiful. Their form is plump and rounded, 

 though without the slightest trace of dumpiness ; for their 

 necks and tails are very long, their heads small, and the elegant 

 recurved plume gives their whole bearing an appearance of 

 graceful pride. Their carriage is firm and erect, but at the 

 same time light and easy. It is a beautiful sight to see the 

 male bird strutting proudly, with erect head, flashing eyes, and 

 quivering plume, along the fallen log beneath which his little 

 family are snugly hidden. So brave and so weak ; so full of 

 the will to protect them, so wanting in the power ! Among 

 men is there a situation that fills us with warmer admiration, 

 yet affects us more sadly, than this very one ? The colours, 

 too, of the bird are no less pleasing than is its form. There 

 is, indeed, no gorgeous display of colour, no flashing lustre 

 or changing of tints ; yet the harmonious blending of some, 

 the artistic contrast of others, together produce rare beauty. 

 Formed to please the naturalist, the artist, and the sports- 

 man — three types of men by no means very dissimilar — 

 the Plumed Quail has yet other charms; for in the fragrant 

 odour and delicious flavour of its soft white flesh an epicure of 

 the most capricious taste cannot fail to be abundantly satisfied. 

 And with a disposition as amiable and peaceful as its colours 

 and form are beautiful, there is nothing to be scored against its 

 long list of good qualities. Could but one of our species attain 

 to its innocent perfection ! 



