QUAILS.— P IGEONS. 83 



base ; no naked space around the eye ; the nostrils half closed 

 by a membrane. The tarsus is destitute of spur or tubercle. 



33. These birds alight on low trees or bushes, sometimes roost- 

 ing in them ; they also dwell on the ground, both by night and day. 

 They are usually monogamous, the male taking charge of, and 

 protecting the young, which associate with the old until the time 

 of pairing. These are peculiar to America. 



34. The American Partridge, or Quail, — Ortyx virginiana, — 

 is without a crest ; the plumage cinnamon brown, varied with 

 black and whitish ; throat white, bounded with a black crescent ; 

 beak black ; the feet ash- colour. Though the Partridges of America 

 are exceedingly prolific, they have been so thinned in some parts 

 of the country, that sportsmen, acquainted with their local attach- 

 ments, have been known to introduce them into places for breed- 

 ing, to prevent their threatened extermination.] 



35. The Quails. — Coinrnix, — are smaller than Partridges, and 

 have a shorter tail. The Common Quail of Europe, — Tetrao 

 coturnix, — has a brown back, waved with black and dotted with 

 white, a brown throat, and a whitish eye-brow. The female makes 

 a nest like the partridge ; she lays six or seven eggs which are 

 of a gray colour with brown spots. They are hatched at the 

 end of about three weeks. 



36. Q^uails are birds of passage, and celebrated for their migra- 

 tions ; they are found throughout Europe, and in most parts of 

 the United States. In the autumn, they pass in Immense troops 

 from Europe, across the Mediterranean to the coast of Africa ; 

 they return in the spring, and at that time they rest on some 

 one of the Islands of the archipelago. 



FAMILY OF PIGEONS. 



37. The Pigeons, — Colnmha, — are regarded as forming the 

 natural link or transition between the Passerinas and Gallinaceae. 



38. Pigeons have a moderate, compressed, straight, vaulted 

 beak, which is curved at the point, (Plate 5, /ig. 4. ;) their nostrils 

 are in the middle of the beak, pierced through a soft skin and 

 covered by a cartilaginous scale which is inflated or bulged at 

 the base of the beak ; their feet are frequently red ; they have 

 three toes in front, which are entirely separate, and a posterior 



33. What are their habits ? 



34. What are the characters of the American Partridge or Quail ? 

 Whether is it migratory or sedentary in its habits ? 



35. What are the characters of the common European Quail ? 



36. What are the habits of Quails? 



37. What relation do Pigeons bear to the Passerinae and Gallinaceee ? 



38. What are the characters of Pigeons? What are their habits? 



