VIRGINIAN PARTRIDGE. 889 



of trees of ordinary size, where they remain until danger is over. They 

 walk \vith ease on the branches. If they perceive that they are observed, 

 they raise the feathers of their head, emit a low note, and fly off either to 

 some higher branch of the same tree, or to another tree at a distance. 

 When these birds rise on wing of their own accord, the whole flock takes 

 the same course ; but when put up (in the sportsman's phrase), they dis- 

 perse, after alighting call to each other, and soon after unite, each 

 running or flying towards the well-known cry of the patriarch of the 

 covey. During deep and continued snows, they often remain on the 

 branches of trees for hours at a time. 



The usual cry of this species is a clear whistle, coipposed of three 

 notes ; the first and last nearly equal in length, the latter less loud than 

 the first, but more so than the intermediate one. When an enemy is 

 perceived they immediately utter a lisping note, frequently repeated, and 

 run off" with their tail spread, their crest erected, and their wings droop- 

 ing,' towards the shelter of some thicket or the top of a fallen ti'ee. At 

 other times, when one of the flock has accidentally strayed to a distance 

 from its companions, it utters two notes louder than any of those men- 

 tioned above, the first shorter and lower than the second, when an answer 

 is immediately returned by one of the pack. This species has moreover 

 a love-call, which is louder and clearer than its other notes, and can be 

 heard at a distance of several hundred yards. It consists of three distinct 

 notes, the two last being loudest, and is peculiar to the male bird. A 

 fancied similarity to the words Bob White renders this call familiar to the 

 sportsman and farmer ; but these notes are always preceded by another, 

 easily heard at a distance of thirty or forty yards. The three togetlier 

 resemble the words Ah Bob White. The first note is a kind of aspiration, 

 and the last is very loud and clear. This whistle is seldom heard after 

 the breeding season, during which an imitation of the peculiar note of 

 the female will make the male fly towards the sportsman, who may then 

 easily shoot it. 



In the Middle Districts, the love-call of the male is heard about the 

 middle of April, and in Louisiana much earUer. The male is seen perch- 

 ed on a fence-stake, or on the low branch of a tree, standing nearly in 

 the same position for hours together, and calling Ah Bob White at every 

 interval of a few minutes. Should he hear the note of a female, he sails 

 directly towards the spot whence it proceeded. Several males may be 

 heai'd from different parts of a field challenging each other, and should 



