416. QUAIL, OR PARTRILGE. ? 
one side for entrance. The female lays from fifteen to twenty-four 
eggs, of a pure white, without any spots. The time of incubation has 
been stated to nie, by various persons, at four weeks, when the eggs 
were placed under the domestic Hen. The young leave the nest as 
soon as they are freed ‘from the shell, and are conducted about in 
search of food by the female; are guided by her voice, which at that 
time resembles the twittering of young Chickens, and sheltered by her 
wings, in the same munner as those of the domestic fowl; but with 
all that secrecy and precaution for their safety, which their helpless- 
ness and greater danger require. In this situation, should the little 
timid family be unexpectedly surprised, the utmost alarm and conster- 
nation instantly prevail. The mother throws 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 pas- 
senger in pursuit of herself, uttering 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 distance, returns, 
by a circuitous route, to collect and lead them off. This well-known 
maneuvre, which nine times in ten is successful, is honorable to the 
feelings and judgment of the bird, but a severe satire on man. The 
affectionate 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 success as her own; 
though, generally speaking, the young Partridges, being more restless 
and vagrant, often lose themselves, and disappear. The Hen ought to 
be a:particular 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, they 
might be completely domesticated. They have been often kept 
during the first season, and through the whole of the winter, but have 
uniformly 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 informed by a very respectable 
lady, by whom they werc particularly cbserved. , 
It, has been frequently asserted to me, that the Quails lay occasion- 
ally 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 mentioned were 
raised in this manner; and it was particularly remarked by the lady 
whe gave me the information, that the Hen sat for several days after 
her own eggs were hatched, until the young Quails made their ap- 
pearance. 
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