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 Orttx 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 Vir^inia?ius 

 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 



