JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 37 



my care for setting out, and I took them home with me. During 

 the evening I brought a male bird in to make the acquaintance of 

 the family. I spent the half-hour in which he lay snuggled under 

 my chin in scratching his head. At first his heart jumped in lively 

 fashion but he soon quieted down and merely blinked his eyes in 

 deep content. It seems as though they would tame very easily. 



In their coop they used a great variety of language ; they 

 clucked like a Grouse ; they chattered like a Blackbird; they snapped 

 their bills like an Owl ; they "jawed" like a Parrot; they made a 

 guttural note of alarm like the "br-r-r-r" of a startled Pigeon ; they 

 hissed like a Black Duck guarding her nest, or like a Thomas cat 

 whose dignity is ruffled not quite enough for anger ; and, in addition, 

 they are said to "crow" at evening. Their Latin name, Pcrdix, is 

 said to be a fairly close imitation of their call. English? Conti- 

 nental ? Or ancient Roman pronunciation ? 



Next evening. May 6, 1909, about sundown, I carried them into 

 a clearing in the woods where was a couple of acres of newly turned 

 soil sloping down to a brook, the north side well wooded, on the 

 south open to the sun, and a good bit of cultivated land near by. I 

 placed the box upon the ground with a corner of the burlap cover 

 loosened so that they might easily get out. They got out ; they 

 stood not upon the order of their going but went at once. The box 

 was scarcely set down when they began to stream out into the dusk. 

 They made only a short flight— twenty yards or so, the longest not 

 over forty— and dropped into the plowed ground. A few scurried 

 into the woods at the right. In a moment the gloom was filled with 

 curious noises as the scattered birds began calling each other. It 

 w^as as though every wheelbarrow in the neighborhood had lifted up 

 a voice of protest against the high price of oil. Presently they gath- 

 ered together, the last straggler came out from the woods, and all 

 collected on a little hummock in the midst of the plowed ground, 

 and viewed their surroundings, as it seemed to me, with no great 

 approval. They squeaked and called for a few minutes until finally 

 the whole covey made off on foot, entering the edge of the brush 



