BRITISH BIRDS. 3 



the least noise, squats close to the ground, [n the 

 evening" it comes out in quest of food, and may then 

 be heard at a great distance; its cry is singular, 

 resembling a hoarse kind of whistle three or four 

 times repeated, and has been compared to the turn- 

 ing of a rusty handle. Buffon endeavours to 

 express it by the words tnrrlui\ tnrrlm\ and says it 

 resembles the sound of the third flute, dwelling on 

 three or four tones from a flat to a sharp. Its food 

 consists chiefly of worms. It is said to be good 

 eating when young; the flesh of the old ones is 

 hard, black, and dry. White mentions them as 

 frequenting the district of Selborne, in Hampshire. 

 He says, that the young run immediately from the 

 nest, almost as soon as they are excluded, like Par- 

 tridges: that the dam leads them to some stony 

 field, where they bask, skulking among the stones, 

 which they resemble so nearly in colour, as not 

 easily to be discovered. 



Birds of this kind are migratory; they arrive in 

 April, live with us all the spring and summer, and 

 at the beginning of autumn prepare to take leave, 

 by getting together in flocks: it is supposed that 

 they retire to Spain, and frequent the sheep-walks 

 with which that country abounds. 



