28 GROUSE FAMILY. 



distance from the habitation. From two eggs thus deposited 

 were raised a pair of young Quails which, when abandoned by 

 the hen, showed their social attachment by accompanying the 

 cows. These they followed night and morning from the pas- 

 ture, and when the cattle were housed for the winter our little 

 Partridges took up their humble abode in the stable. But 

 even these, so docile, and separated from all their race, on the 

 return of spring obeyed the instinct of nature, and wandered 

 away to their congenial woods and thickets. It is probable at 

 times, as asserted by observers, that our Quails, like some 

 other birds, lay their eggs in the nests of each other, — a fact 

 which would only be in accordance with their usual friendship 

 and mutual familiarity. 



The American Quail, according to Wilson, has likewise, in 

 turn, been employed to hatch the eggs of the domestic hen, 

 which she brought out, defended, and fed as her own offspring. 

 She even succeeded in imparting to them a portion of her own 

 instinct to such a degree that when alarmed they hid in the 

 grass and ran timidly from sight like so many young Par- 

 tridges, exhibiting all the wildness of unreclaimed birds. A flock 

 of these Quails, however attentively fed, and confined, always 

 exhibit a great degree of fear and shyness ; their attachments 

 remaining truly natural, they appear only to recognize the com- 

 pany of each other. But a solitary individual becomes friendly 

 and familiar to the hand that feeds it, and for want of more 

 congenial society forms a similar attachment to its keeper. 

 In the month of September, the litde brood, now nearly full 

 grown, assemble in families ; and at this period, as well as 

 in the spring and early part of summer, the clear, whistling 

 call of the male is often heard. This well-known note is 

 very similar to the pronunciation of the words ''bob white, 

 to which is often added a suppressed introductory whistle. 

 While seated, perhaps on a fence-rail, or the low limb of an 

 orchard tree, this peculiar note, sometimes interpreted in 

 showery hay-weather into the augury of more wet, more wet, 

 continues uninterruptedly, at short intervals, for more than 

 half an hour at a time. Du Pratz says these birds are known 



