15C 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



them, and knock them down with their ztnoattys, or bludgeons.' 

 It was precisely in this manner that Saul hunted David, coming 

 hastily upon him, and putting hirn up from time to time, in hopes 

 he should at length, by frequent repetitions of it, be able to destroy 

 him. 



In addition to this method of taking the partridge, Dr. Shaw states, 

 that the Arabs are well acquainted with that mode of catching them, 

 which is called tunnelling ; and to make the capture the greater, 

 they will sometimes place behind the net a cage, with some tame 

 ones within it, which, by their perpetual chirping and calling, quick- 

 3y bring down the coveys that are within hearing, and thereby de- 

 coy great numbers of them. This, he remarks, may lead us into the 

 right interpretation of Eccles. xi. 30, which we render Mike as a 

 partridge taken [and kept] in a cage, so is the heart of the proud ; 

 but it should be, 'Like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is,' &c. 



The other passage in which this bird is mentioned, is Jer. xvii. 

 11, ' As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he 

 that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst 

 of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.' It seems to be clear, 

 says Mr, Taylor, that this bird sitteth on eggs not its own, to answer 

 to the getting of riches not by right ; from these eggs it is driven 

 away, leaves them in the midst of his days, before the time for hatch- 

 ing is expired, But why should it be'said of the partridge, rather 

 than of any other bird, that it sitteth and hatcheth not? The reason 

 is plain, when it is known, that this bird's nest being made on the 

 ground, the eggs are frequently broken by the foot of man, or other 

 animals, and she is often obliged to quit them by the presence of 

 intruders, which chills the eggs, and renders them unfruitful. Rain 

 and moisture also may spoil them. Observing that Buffon makes 

 a separate species of the Barlavella, or Greek partridge, Mr. Taylor 

 offers that as the proper bird meant in these passages. Belon in- 

 forms us, 'that the bartavella keeps ordinarily among rocfo ; but has 

 the instinct to descend into the plain to make its nest, in order that 

 the young may find, at their birth, a ready subsistence.' 'It has 

 another analogy with the common hen, which is, to sit upon (or 

 hatch) the eggs of strangers, for want of its own. This remark is of 

 long standing, since it occurs in the sacred books.' Now, if, in the 

 absence of the proper owner, this Bartavella partridge sits on the 

 eggs of a stranger, when that stranger returns to her nest, and drives 

 away the intruder before she can hatch them, the partridge so ex- 

 pelled resembles a man in low circumstances, who has possessed 

 himself for a time of the property of another, but is forced to relin- 

 quish his acquisition before he can render it profitable ; which is 

 the simile of the prophet, and agrees, too, with this place. 



