230 QUAIL, OR PARTRIDGE. 



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 

 who gave me the information, that the hen sat for several days 

 after her own eggs were hatched, until the young quails made 

 their appearance. 



The partridge, on her part, has sometimes been employed 

 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 her- 

 self, she continued to lead them about ; but, though then- 

 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 disap- 

 peared, 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 naturalised, and well fixed in all their native habits. 



About the beginning of September, the quails being now 

 nearly fully grown, and associated in flocks or coveys of from 



