AMERICAN PARTRIDGE, OR QUAIL. 653 
they followed night and morning from the pasture, and 
when the cattle were housed for the winter our little 
Partridges took up their humble abode in the stable. 
But even these, so docile, and separated from all their 
race, on the returmof spring, obeyed the instinct of na- 
ture, and wandered away to their congenial woods and 
thickets. It is probable at times, as asserted by observers, 
that our Quails, like some other birds, lay their eggs in 
the nests of each other ; a fact which would only be in 
accordance with their usual friendship and mutual famil- 
iarity. 
The American Quail, according to Wilson, has like- 
wise, in turn, been employed to hatch the eggs of the 
domestic hen, which she brought out, defended, and fed 
as her own offspring. She even succeeded in imparting 
to them a portion of her own instinct, to such a degree, 
that when alarmed, they hid in the grass, and ran timidly 
from sight like so many young Partridges, exhibiting all 
the wildness of unreclaimed birds. A flock of these 
Quails, however attentively fed, and confined, always 
exhibit a great degree of fear and shyness ; their at- 
tachments remaining truly natural, they appear only to 
recognise the company of each other. But a solitary indi- 
vidual becomes friendly and familiar to the hand that 
feeds it, and, for want of more congenial society, forms a 
similar attachment to its keeper. In the month of Sep- 
tember, the little brood, now nearly full grown, assemble 
in families ; and at this period, as well as in the spring 
and early part of summer, the clear, whistling call of the 
male is often heard. This well known note, is very sim- 
ilar to the pronunciation of the words, “ ’ bob ivhitc to 
which is often added a suppressed introductory whistle. 
While seated, perhaps on a fence-rail, or the low limb of 
an orchard tree, this peculiar note, sometimes interpreted 
55 * 
