BIRDS. M5 



where slie leads tliem. There are generally from ten to fifteen 

 in a covey ; and, if unmolested, they live from fifteen to seveo- 

 teen years. 



There are several methods of taking them, as is well known s 

 that by which they are taken in a net with a setting dog, is the 

 most pleasant, as well as the most secure. The dog, as every body 

 knows, is trained to this exercise by a long course of education : 

 by blows and caresses he is taught to lie down at the word of 

 command ; a partridge is shown him, and he is then ordered to 

 lie down : he is brought into tlie field, and when the sportsman 

 perceives where the covey lies, he orders his dog to crouch : at 

 length the dog, from habit, crouches wherever he approaches a 

 covey ; and this is the signal which the sportsman receives for un. 

 folding, and covering the birds with his net. A covey thus caught, 

 is sometimes fed in a place proper for their reception ; but they 

 can never be thoroughly tamed, like the rest of our domestic 

 Doultry. 



CHAP. X. 



THE QUAIL. 



The last of the poultry kind that I shall mention, is the 

 quail ; a bird much smaller than any of the former, being not 

 above half the size of a partridge. The feathers of the head are 

 black, edged with rusty brown ; the breast is of a pale yellowish 

 red, spotted with black ; the feathers on the back are marked 

 with lines of a pale yellow, and the legs are of a pale hue. Ex- 

 cept in the colours thus described, and the size, it every way re- 

 sembles a partridge in shape ; and, except that it is a bird of 

 passage, all others of the poultry kind, in its habits and nature.* 



* They are found in most parts of Great Britain, but no where in great 

 quantity. The time of their migration from this country is August or Sep- 

 tember : they are supposed to winter in Africa; and they return early in 

 the spring. At their arrival in Alexandria, such multitudes are exposed 

 in the markets for sale, that three or four may be bought for a raedina, a 

 coin less tlian throe farthings in value. Crews of merchant vessels have 

 been fed upon thom ; and complaints have sometimes been laid at the con. 

 Eul's oSlce, by niamuTs ag-ain>t their captains, for giving them nothing but 



III. N 



