BRITISH BIRDS. 
274 
OF THE GALLINACEOUS KIND. 
We are now to fpeak of a very numerous and 
ufeful clafs of birds, which, by the bountiful difpo- 
fition of Providence, is diffufed throughout every 
country of the world, affording every where a 
plentiful and grateful fupply of the moil delicate, 
wholefome, and nutritious food. A large portion 
of thefe feem to have left their native woods to 
crowd around the dwellings of man, where, fubfer- 
vient to his purpofe, they fubfifl upon the pickings 
of the barn-yard, the liable, or the dunghill; a 
chearful, active race, which enlivens and adorns 
the rural fcene, and requires no other care than the 
foflering hand of the houfewife to fhelter and pro- 
tect it. Some kinds, fuch as the Partridge, the 
Pheafant, and the like, are found only in culti- 
vated places, at no great diflance from the habi- 
tations of men : and, although they have not fub- 
mitted to his dominion, they are neverthelefs 
fubjeCt to his controuling power, and the object 
of his keenefl attention and purfuit : — Whilfl o- 
thers, taking a wider range, find food and fhel- 
ter in the deepefl receffes of the woods and fo- 
refls, fometimes fubfi fling upon wild and heathy 
mountains, or among rocks and precipices of the 
mofl difficult accefs. The characters of this clafs 
are generally well known ; they are diflinguifhed 
above all others for the whitenefs of their flefh j 
