416 TETRAONHLE. 



gical Society of London, of which the following extract 

 forms a part. 



I have carefully examined and compared specimens 

 from China,* India, the Cape of Good Hope, and England, 

 and must pronounce them, in spite of the extraordinary 

 geographical range, to be one species, the differences be- 

 tween the specimens not being greater than are found 

 amongst individuals from the same locality. The Indian 

 bird has the same cry of pickerwick, or peek-wheet-wheet, 

 which, M. Temminck says, induced M. Meyer to give it 

 the specific appellation of dactylisonans.^ 



A matter of considerable historical interest is associated 

 with this bird, as there is the strongest ground for believ- 

 ing that it is the identical species, Tetrao Israelitarum, of 

 whose instinct it pleased the Divinity to avail Himself in 

 supplying the famishing Israelites with food in the Wilder- 

 ness. Authors have differed with respect to the real nature 

 of this food ; RudbeckJ asserting that it was & flying fish, 

 and Ludolph that it was a locust : but the 26th, 27th, 

 28th, and 29th verses of the 78th Psalm, determine it to 

 have been a bird: " He caused an east wind to blow in 

 the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south 

 wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and fea- 

 thered fowls (fowl of wing) like as the sand of the sea : 

 and he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about 

 their habitations. So they did eat, and were well filled : 

 for he gave them their own desire." || 



Bochart^f and Dr. Harris** state that the Hebrew word 

 used is Selav, in Arabic Selwee, or Selvai (a Quail), which 



* M. Temminck says our Quail is also found in Japan. 



t Pig. et Gal. torn. iii. p. 501. 



Ichthyol. Bibl. Comment, ad Hist. JSthiop. p. 108. 



II See also Exodus xvi. 13, and Numbers xi. 31 and 32. 



^ De Animalibus S. Scripturae. 



** Natural History of the Bible, p. 317. 



