THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



cially the sportsman's dog,) the mother will instantly 

 squat herself, and collect her little brood under her wings 

 for protection, and at this time she will remain so perfectly 

 tranquil as to permit the hand almost to grasp her, before 

 she will attempt to escape; she will then throw herself in 

 the path, fluttering along, and beating the ground with her 

 wings, as if sorely wounded, using every artifice she is 

 master of, to entice the passenger in pursuit of herself, ut- 

 tering at the same time certain peculiar notes of alarm, 

 well understood by the young, who dive separately amongst 

 the grass, and secrete themselves till the danger is over; 

 and the parent, having decoyed the pursuer to a safe dis- 

 tance, returns, by a circuitous route, to collect and lead 

 them off. This well known manoeuvre, which nine times 

 in ten is successful, is honourable to the feelings and judg- 

 ment of the bird, but a severe satire on man. The affec- 

 tionate mother, as if sensible of the avaricious cruelty of 

 his nature, tempts him with a larger prize, to save her 

 more helpless offspring; and pays him, as avarice and 

 cruelty ought always to be paid, with mortification and 

 disappointment. 



The eggs of the Quail have been frequently placed under 

 the domestic hen, and hatched and reared with equal suc- 

 cess as her own ; though, generally speaking, the young 

 Partridges being more restless and vagrant, often lose them- 

 selves, and disappear. The hen ought to be a particularly 

 good nurse, not at all disposed to ramble, in which case 

 they are very easily raised. Those that survive, acquire all 

 the familiarity of common chickens ; and there is little 

 doubt, that if proper measures were taken, and persevered 

 in for a few years, that they might be completely domes- 

 ticated. They have been often kept during the first sea- 

 son, and through the whole of the winter, but have uni- 

 formly deserted in the spring. Two young Partridges 

 that were brought up by a hen, when abandoned by her, 

 associated with the cows, which they regularly followed to 

 the fields, returned with them when they came home in 

 the evening, stood by them while they were milked, and 

 again accompanied them to the pasture. These remained 

 during the winter, lodging in the stable, but as soon as 

 spring came, they disappeared. Of this fact I was inform- 

 ed by a very respectable lady, by whom they were par- 

 ticularly observed. 



It has been frequently asserted to me, that the Quails 

 lay occasionally in each other's nests. Though I have 

 never myself seen a case of this kind, I do not think it 

 altogether improbable, from the fact, that they have often 

 been known to drop their eggs in the nest of the common 

 hen, when that happened to be in the fields, or at a small 

 distance from the house. The two Partridges above men- 

 tioned were raised in this manner; and it was particularly 



remarked by the lady, who gave me the information, that 

 the hen sat for several days after her own eggs were hatch- 

 ed, until the young Quails made their appearance. 



The Partridge, on her part, has sometimes been em- 

 ployed to hatch the eggs of the common domestic hen. A 

 friend of mine, who himself made the experiment, informs 

 me, that of several hen's eggs which he substituted in 

 place of those of the Partridge, she brought out the whole; 

 and that for several weeks he occasionally surprised her in 

 various parts of the plantation, with her brood of chickens; 

 on which occasions she exhibited all that distressful alarm, 

 and practised her usual manoeuvres 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 ra- 

 pidity, and squatting in the grass, exactly in the manner 

 of the Partridge. Soon after this they disappeared, 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 therelsy 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 all their native habits. 



About the beginning of September, the Quails being 

 now nearly full grown, and associated in flocks, or coveys, 

 of from four or five to thirty, afTord considerable sport to 

 the gunner. And, perhaps, of all the feathered tribe 

 which inhabit this countr}', none are persecuted with so 

 much untiring vigor, as this interesting little bird ; the 

 delicacy of its flesh, its domestic qualities, and source of 

 profit, seems to mark it for that destruction which continu- 

 ally awaits it. 



Ranking high in our scale of game, and being univer- 

 sally found in this country, the Partridge, by its familiar 

 habits, invites the sportsman, who pursues it as a source 

 of pleasurable recreation, superior to all others; and thus, 

 between man, hawks, and vermin, is a continual war 

 waged against this harmless bird, and every succeeding 

 year adds to the number and avidity of its enemies, but so 

 great is the fecundity of the Partridge, that instead of de- 

 creasing in quantity, they appear to thrive, and multiply, 

 in despite of the system of extermination carried on 

 against them. The most are killed by man, and he may 

 be fairly considered their greatest enemy; but, the Par- 



