I'KI!I>I('II».K Till-: l'.\liTi;il»(iK8. 471 



unitfs with tilt' first, iiml, ii' iiuiiinlcstcd, tlit-y kL'c|) t(ijj;i'tlior until tlu! spiiny, 

 uudi'i' till- Ljiiidiiiici' ui' tiic piirt'iits. In tiio iiiatiiij,'-.si'iis(iii ijicy usually si'pa- 

 ratu iuln pairs, tliiiui;li (M'casioiially a uialc will associalr witii nuuv than a 

 .sinj,'le Ibnuilc, in whicli case lia'ir juint pnidiii'l is united in thu same nest. 

 In the spring ol' l.S.'iO 1 found nut' of the nusts whi(^h contained no less than 

 thirty-two t',i,'j,'s. Tiie nest was placed on the side of a hill, in an ojien jias- 

 lure, within a low rods of tiie main street, and in the midst of the ]irinci]iivl 

 villaj,'e in llinnham. It was couipaialively small, composed of coarse stems 

 of Lfi'ass, arched at the to]i, with tiie eiitrunee on one side, and the ej,%'s 

 were promiscuously piled one upon another. The latter were removed for 

 the purpose of ascertaining;- the exact mimher, l)Ut very carefully replaced; 

 yet the parent iiirds deserle(l them, as tiiey ari' said always to do ii their 

 e^j,'.s are handled. An attempt was made to hatch the e,i,',us under a common 

 Hell, hut it proved un.siiccessful. As the nest was in .so exjiosed a place, it 

 is (|nite po.ssilde that its ahandonmont by the parent may have heun occa- 

 sioned by other causes than our touching; the ef,',us, 



These liirdsare always found in i^roiinds more or less open, ])referriiii; those 

 in which there is aiiundaiice of low trees and clusters of shrubs in which 

 they Clin shelter themselves, on the edytis of woods, where they occasionally 

 hide or roost on low branches near the .!j;round. Their favorite food is seeds 

 of various plants, and bi-rrics ; and in the fall of the year, or late in summer, 

 they feed largely on j;rasslioppeis, and on this food they thrive and beconK! 

 very fat. They an^ also very fond of buckwiieat, corn, and all tln^ liiiuls of 

 f^iaiii. In conlinement they i-at betH'hnuts, acorns, and other kinds of nuts, if 

 broken for them. In villages wlii're liieyare not molested they become very 

 tame, freely ap]ii'oacli the liarnyards to feed with the ])Oultry, and will even 

 come at the call of their friends and jiick u]> food thrown to them. This is 

 especially noticeable in Florida, wlun'c the representatives of the small race 

 of the s])i'cies found there are very numerous ami remarlvably conlidiu;^. 



The (iHiail is estecuned a great delicacy as an article of food, and is sought 

 for the market by means of traps, nets, and various kinds of snares, and by 

 sportsmen with the gun and dogs. Tt is naturally unsuspicious, is easily 

 ajiproaclied, and in tla; thickly settled parts of the c(juntry its ranks an; al- 

 ready greatly thinned. It is gradually disajipearing from New England, and 

 is now very ran* in large tracts where it wa.s once ([uite abundant. In some 

 localities they have only been retained by the importations of others from a 

 distance. They are of gentle disjiosition, art; aiijiarently much attached to 

 each other both in the conjugal and in the jiarental relations, and always 

 keep closely together in the small tlocks associating together. In the fall 

 the old birds remain with their olfspriug of the season, and direct the move- 

 ments of their family. They always keep close together, by day as well 

 as by night, roost on the ground under the shelter of bushes in a circle, their 

 bodies closely impacted, and their heads forming the exterior. This con- 

 duces alike to their safety and to their warmth. 



