VIRGINIAN PARTRIDGE. 83 



pronouncing the words "Bob White." This call may be easily imitated by whistling, so 

 as to deceive the bird itself, and bring it near. While uttering this, he is usually perched 

 on a rail of the fence, or on a low limb of an apple tree, where he will sometimes sit, 

 repeating, at short intervals, "Bob White," for half-an-hour at a time. When a covey 

 are assembled in a thicket, or corner of a field, and about to take wing, they make a 

 low twittering sound, not unlike that of young chickens; and, when the covey is dispersed, 

 they are called together again by a loud and frequently-repeated note, peculiarly expressive 

 of tenderness and anxiety." 



Their food consists of corn, buckwheat, Indian corn, seeds and berries of various kinds, 

 grass, and a large proportion of insects. 



As to the sporting qualities of this bird, Wilson says, "About the beginning of Sep- 

 tember, the Quails, being now nearly Ml grown, and associated in flocks, or covies, of 

 from four or five to thirty, afford considerable sport to the gunner. Like all the rest of 

 the gallinaceous order, it flies with a loud whirring sound, occasioned by the shortness, 

 concavity, and rapid motion of its wings, and the comparative weight of its body. The 

 steadiness of its horizontal flight, however, renders it no difficult mark to the sportsman, 

 particularly when assisted by his sagacious pointer." 



The following method is adopted, according to Alexander Wilson, in North America 

 for the capture of the Virginian Partridge : — "To the ravages of the gun are added others 

 of a more insidious kind; traps are placed on almost every plantation, in such places as 

 they are known to frequent. These are formed of lath, or thinly-split sticks, somewhat 

 in the shape of an obtuse cone, laced together with cord, having a small hole at top, 

 with a sliding lid, to take out the game by. This is supported by the common figure 4 

 trigger; and grain is scattered below and leading to the place. By this contrivance, ten 

 or fifteen have sometimes been taken at a time. They are sometimes brought alive to 

 market, and occasionally bought up by sportsmen, who, if the season be very severe, 

 sometimes preserve and feed them till spring, when they are humanely turned out to their 

 native fields again, to be put to death some future time, 'secundum artem.' " 



The time of pairing and nesting, in this country, is about the same as that of the 

 Partridge; the nest is, however, very different, being covered at the top, and having a 

 hole at the side for ingress and egress: it is placed on the ground. 



The eggs are about twelve in number; Alexander Wilson says fifteen to twenty -four, 

 and are pure white. They measure in length one inch and two and a half lines, by one 

 inch in breadth, tapering much towards the small end. 



With respect to the time occupied by incubation in this country, we have no authentic 

 information, but of America Wilson says, "It has been stated to me, 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 ; 



