B IR D So 



35S 



Their food is chiefly berries and seeds of the coun- 

 try ; their flesh is white and choice food. 



They lay their eggs on the ground, and breed but 

 once a-year, in the Spring, and hatch twelve or four- 

 teen at a brood; which keep in company till the 

 Spring following. Many have attempted to raise 

 the young ones, and to tame them, but to no pur- 

 pose ; even when hatched under a hen, they escape 

 into the woods soon after they come out. 



The flesh of these birds is sometimes unquestiona- 

 bly poi^ionous, from their eating the buds of laurel 

 early in the Spring, as already mentioned under the 

 article kalmia» 



This bird is called improperly pheasant in Penn- 

 sylvania, for no pheasant is found native in America« 

 It is conceived, that it is the same bird which is call- 

 ed partridge in New York, and further north. 



They lay from 12 to 18 eggs, and make their nests 

 in the leaves, by the side of a tree. The young leave 

 their nests as soon as hatched ; and when a few days 

 old they feed on various berries, particularly ivy-ber- 

 ries, fruits and graiuc 



3, Tetrao Marylandus^ L. Is the partndge of 

 Pennsylvania, and the quail of New York. 



The male is white under the throat, and has many 

 black feathers on the head. The under part of the 

 female is yellow, and there are fewer black feathers 

 on the head than on the male. 



The distinction between the partridge and quail is 

 very trifling: therefore Linnaeus has not separated 

 them. BufFon has attempted to shew some distinc- 

 tions whicli do not all agree in the same bird : he 



