OF BIRDS. 
18 7 
old birds; on the breast there is a crescent of a deep 
chesnut colour: the tail is short: the legs are of a green- 
ish white, and are furnished with a small knob behind. 
The female has no crescent on the breast, and her co- 
lours in general are not so distinct and bright as those 
of the male. 
Partridges are found chiefly in temperate climates; the 
extremes of heat and cold are equally unfavourable to 
them. They pair early in the spring: the female lays 
from fourteen to eighteen or twenty eggs, making her 
nest of dry leaves and grass upon the ground. The 
young birds learn to run as soon as hatched, frequently 
encumbered* with part of the shell sticking to them. It 
is no uncommon thing to introduce partridges' eggs un~ 
der the common hen, who hatches and rears them as her 
own; in this case, the young birds require to be fed with 
ants’ eggs, which are their favourite food, and without 
which it is almost impossible to bring them up; they 
likewise eat insects, and when full grown, feed on all 
kinds of grain and young plants. The affection of the 
female for her young is peculiarly strong and lively: she 
is greatly assisted in her care of rearing them by her 
mate; they lead them out in common, call them together, 
point out to them their proper food, and assist them in 
finding it by scratching the ground with their feet; they 
frequently sit close by each other, covering their young 
with their wings, like the hen. In this situation they are 
not easily flushed; the sportsman, who is attentive to the 
preservation of his game, will carefully avoid giving any 
disturbance to a scene so truly interesting. 
Quail. (Pi. 28.) This bird is much smaller than any 
of the former, being not above half the size of the par- 
tridge. The feathers on the head are black, edged with 
rusty brown; the breast is of a yellowish red, spotted 
with black: and the plumage on the back is marked with 
lines of pale yellow. Its form is exactly that of the par*- 
tridge; and it resembles the generality of the poultry 
kind in its nature and habits. 
Quails are almost universally diffused throughout Eu- 
rope, Asia, Africa, and America; they are birds of pas- 
