PARTRIDGE OR QUAIL. 



EXCEPT to the naturalist, it can scarcely be a matter 

 of very great moment whether a bird is designated 

 a partridge or a quail, but at the present date there 

 are so many sportsmen who pride themselves on 

 being conversant with natural history, that with some 

 grounds of reason the terms may, to a certain ex- 

 tent, be deemed synonymous. For this reason I 



take up my pen to answer Mr. W. , who asks 



the question whether the Ortix Virginianus is a 

 quail or a partridge ? 



I believe that it may be accepted as a truth that 

 Audubon and Wilson are the two best authorities on 

 the ornithology of the United States, and they both 

 appear never to have had a doubt upon the above 

 subject viz., that the bird so frequently called in 

 the Eastern and Western States quail is unquestion- 

 ably a partridge. This is, in my opinion, sufficient 

 to decide the vexed question. However, I will add 

 my own experience, gained from actual practical 

 observation in the haunts of both birds, viz., that 

 there is no relationship between the Ortix Virginianus 

 and Coturnix communis. In fact, I will go further 

 by saying that it is my firm belief that not a single 

 species or variety of the last-named family is to be 

 found upon the vast extent of the American conti- 

 nents. I am not prepared to pronounce upon the 

 identity of the bird found in Jamaica, but from the 



