AMERICAN QUAIL OR PARTRIDGE. 



29 



birds resort to their various tricks of deception. But later, when 

 the power of flight is more fully developed in the young, they all, 

 including the parents, fly to the trees, if any are near, and conceal 

 themselves in the branches. 



During summer, Quails subsist chiefly on insects and different 

 vegetable matter, and also on grain. In the fall the latter, espe- 

 cially Indian corn, forms their principal food. In summer, old and 

 young lead a gay life, without any special cares; but, as soon as 

 winter begins, they often experience bitter want, and this fre- 

 quently causes them to wander to more southern regions. Many 

 of them perish on such wanderings, as they are constantly exposed 

 to enemies, man especially using all his skill to secure this deli- 

 cious game. In the month of October, Quails settle in great num- 

 bers on the banks of the larger rivers, enlivening the woody shores 

 and crossing daily from one side of the stream to the other. Later 

 they appear on the roads, searching in the manure of horses for 

 food. But when deep snow covers the road, they are driven by 

 hunger to the neighborhood of the settlements, and even to farm- 

 yards, where they mix with the poultry and are satisfied to pick 

 up the crumbs they may by chance find. If the inmates of a farm- 

 house treat them with hospitality, they will remain in the neigh- 

 borhood, and their confidence will continue to grow so that some- 

 times single ones become more than half-domesticated. 



Our Quail is wonderfully adapted for domestication, and for be- 

 coming acclimated in other countries. Captive Quails, which at 

 the beginning were treated with a little care, soon got reconciled 

 to their confinement, losing all their natural shyness, and getting 

 used, in a very short time, to the hand that fed them ; but such as 

 are raised from birds already tamed become far more easily domes- 

 ticated. It is said that, in New England, eggs of the Quail have 

 been sometimes placed in the nests of domestic hens, and were 

 hatched together with the hen's eggs. At first the young Quails 

 behaved like the chickens, coming at the call of the hen, and en- 

 tering the farm-yard and buildings ; but later their wild nature got 

 the upper hand, and they invariably flew away. 



In a case that came under our notice, fifteen eggs were placed 

 in the nest of the sitting hen, of which fourteen were hatched. The 

 hen was put in a box with laths nailed in front, so that she could 

 not leave the box and roam about with the young Quails ; but 

 these could run in and out as they pleased. They acted precisely 

 as young chickens, obeying the call of the hen until nearly full 

 grown, when, instead of going into the cage at night, they formed a 

 close cluster outside and in front of it, and so spent the night — in 

 regular Quail-like style. Attempts were made to get them to go to 

 the roost with the hens, which were surprisingly successful ; but 

 when the winter was over, and the days began to grow warmer, 

 the young Quails divided off into pairs, and one pair after another 

 took to the fields, never to return. 



At one time, a boy brought me a pair of Quails, a male and fe- 

 male, which he had caught in a trap. It was in the latter part of 

 February. I made a large inclosure for them in my garden, about 

 eight feet long by four wide and about four feet high. It was 

 made of common lath. About the middle of May, the female 

 made a regular nest and began to lay. After she had laid eighteen 

 eggs, she commenced sitting, the male pretty regularly relieving 

 her. On the twenty-third day, I observed the heads of some 

 young ones peeping out under the breast-feathers of the hen. 

 The next day, on coming to the inclosure, I found the hen had left 

 the nest with her eighteen young ones following her. Every egg 

 was hatched. At first, the }^oung appeared more shy than com- 

 mon chickens are ; but, as they were never suffered to be scared, 

 they soon became quite familiar with me, the old as well as the 

 young ones. When I attempted to put my hand under the mother 

 bird, she became quite infuriated and bit my hand as well as she 

 could. The young remained with the parents through the winter, 

 and when spring came, I took the old pair and all the young ex- 

 cept two pairs, and liberated them. I had expected some of them 

 would return, attracted perhaps by the loud " bob, bob white" of 



the two pairs that were kept in the same old place, but not one 

 of them ever returned. In due time my Quails began to mate and 

 build nests ; but it seems they became somewhat confused, and 

 laid their eggs in one and the same nests, while the males kept up 

 almost incessant fights with each other. To stop this, one pair was 

 removed ; the consequence was that they abandoned the nest and 

 eggs. I removed nest and eggs, and about three weeks after, the 

 female began to build a new nest, but in the meantime she dropped 

 several more eggs on the ground. After she had laid her full com- 

 plement, she began to sit and hatched her young. For many a year 

 I raised my young Quails without any trouble. They roamed 

 about the yard like other poultry, and did not seem inclined to run 

 away. 



Alexander Wilson has the following : " The Partridge has some- 

 times been employed to hatch the eggs of the common domestic 

 hen. A friend of mine, who himself made the experiment, in- 

 forms me, that of several hens' eggs which he substituted in place 

 of those of the Partridge, he brought out the whole ; and that for 

 several weeks he surprised her in various parts of the plantation 

 with her brood of chickens, on which occasions she exhibited all 

 that distrustful alarm, and practiced her usual maneuvers for their 

 preservation. Even after they were considerably grown and 

 larger than the Partridge herself, she continued to lead them about ; 

 but, though their notes or call were those of common chickens, 

 their manners had all the shyness, timidity, and alarm of young 

 Partridges, running with great rapidity and squatting in the grass 

 exactly in the manner of the Partridge. Soon after this they dis- 

 appeared, having probably been destroyed by dogs, by the gun, 

 or by birds of prey. Whether the domestic fowl might not by this 

 method be very soon brought back to its original savage state, and 

 thereby supply another additional subject for the amusement of the 

 sportsman, will scarcely admit of a doubt. But the experiment, 

 in order to secure its success, would require to be made in a quarter 

 of the country less exposed than ours to the ravages of guns, traps, 

 dogs, and the deep snows of winter, that the new tribe might have 

 full time to become completely naturalized and well fixed in their 

 native habits." 



Hunting the Quail affords much amusement to our sportsmen, 

 but requires no little skill. When these birds can not escape by run- 

 ning away, they squat, and in case of extreme danger one will 

 spring up here and another 3'onder at the same time, and usually 

 close before the feet of the sportsman, who must be a good marks- 

 man in order to Taring down one or two of these quickly flying 

 birds. The hunting becomes more difficult after the Quails have 

 reached the woods, as they then take to the trees, where no dog can 

 find them by the scent, and the disappointed hunter can seldom 

 see one of them, but only hear now and then their loud whir when 

 they fly off in the opposite direction. If the sportsman, however, 

 understands how to imitate their call, he may be more successful, 

 as they invariably answer the call. 



The male may be considered a beautiful bird, although the color- 

 ing of his plumage is not gay. All the feathers of the upper part 

 are reddish brown, spotted and dotted with black, and banded and 

 seamed with a yellowish hue. Those of the lower or under side 

 are yellowish white, streaked longitudinally with reddish brown 

 penciled with black. A white band, beginning on the front, runs 

 over the eye toward the hind part of the neck. The throat is 

 snowy white and circled with a band of black, which begins be- 

 fore the eye, near the corner of the mouth. The white line over 

 the eye is also banded with black, while the sides of the neck are 

 beautifully marked with black, white, and red-brown spots. The 

 predominant color of the upper wing-coverts are reddish brown ; 

 primaries are dark brown, their outer vane having bluish seams. 

 The secondaries are irregularly banded with saffron : the tail 

 feathers are sprinkled with grayish blue, with the exceptiou of the 

 two middle ones, which are yellowish gray sprinkled with black, and 

 the feathers of the breast have a kind of vinaceous gloss. The eye 

 is hazel, the bill *rown, and the legs grayish. The female is ^is- 



