VIRGINIAN COLIN. 397 



partake of the food, which he did with many soft blandish- 

 ments, and with much strutting and spreading of the wings 

 and tail. 



" I was greatly disappointed at the loss of this interest- 

 ing family ; and I waited with some impatience for the 

 result of another season. The season at length arrived : 

 they built their nest again as before ; the hen laid about 

 sixteen eggs ; when, to my great mortification, just as she 

 had begun to sit, I found her dead one morning ; and can 

 no otherwise account for the circumstance than by sup- 

 posing that something must have frightened her in the 

 night, and caused her to fly up with violence against the 

 wires, which proved fatal to her. Thus ended my hopes of 

 domesticating this elegant little bird, as I have not been 

 able to procure another female. I wished much to breed 

 some more, and turn them out if successful, as they lay 

 many eggs, and are much more easily reared than either 

 Pheasants or Partridges. 1 ' 



This bird is a general inhabitant of North America, from 

 the northern parts of Canada and Nova Scotia, in which 

 latter place it is said to be migratory, to the extremity of 

 the peninsula of Florida. In the eastern and middle dis- 

 tricts, Mr. Audubon says, its common name is that of 

 Quail, but in the western and southern States, it is called 

 a Partridge. Their food, in a wild state, consists of grain, 

 seeds, insects, and berries ; but buckwheat and Indian com 

 are also particular favourites. The eggs are white ; one 

 inch two lines and a half in length, by one inch in breadth, 

 at the larger end, from whence they taper rapidly to a 

 point. The nest in its form, and the habit of the covey of 

 clustering in a circle, in a wild state, are as already de- 

 scribed. Various devices are employed for taking them ; 

 and they are to be seen in the markets of the United 





