356 
QUAIL. PARTRIDGE. 
liar twittering note which is quite noticeable when they are together. In Pennsylvania, 
I have driven a bevy some distance in the same manner; this was, however, when they 
were not fully grown but a pair which lived near my place during an entire season, and 
which I used to see nearly every day, would allow me to follow them for some hundred 
yards along a lane, finally taking refuge in a stone wall or thicket. Although seemingly 
loath to rise, when once on the wing, Quails are, as every sportsman knows, swift fliers and 
he who can shoot one out of a bevy and, turning, drop another which rose at the same time 
but which flew in exactly the opposite direction from the first, performs a feat which is not 
easily accomplished. 
The Quails of Florida are fond of the open piney woods but I have seen them in hum¬ 
mocks, and have even met with them feeding in the swamps along the margin of streams. 
In the more settled districts, they resort to the plantations, especially in Georgia and the 
Carolinas. In Pennsylvania, they prefer old stubble fields, especially in autumn. At this 
season and during winter, they keep in bevies of from five to twenty or more, and wander 
about the country, often moving miles in a single day without rising. When a bevy is 
disturbed at such times and forced to rise, if it has not been much hunted, the birds will 
all proceed together in a straight line until they have reached the nearest cover, when one 
will alight, then another, until all are down. Then they will soon get together without 
much calling, but if further pursued, they will scatter widely, when, after a time, they will 
sound their note in order to ascertain the direction which their companions have taken. 
During the breeding season, the song of the male is heard most frequently; it usually 
consists of two notes, sounding like bob-white , or, as some have it, more-wet , and when our 
gamy friend reiterates this cry frequently, the farmers say, that it foretells rain; but should 
the bird, influenced by some whim, add another syllable, as he sometimes does, he is un¬ 
derstood to say no-more-wet , as a certain prognostication of fair weather. I think, how¬ 
ever, that three syllables are almost always given but that the first is usually uttered so 
low as not to be audible a short distance away. 
The nest is, as a rule, placed in some thicket or on its border and is well-covered; so 
well, in fact, that it is often impossible to find it without starting the bird. Thus I once 
saw one that was not only completely hidden under grass and weeds but which had a cov¬ 
ered passage-way that extended for twelve or fifteen inches before emerging. 
The young follow their parents as soon as hatched and behave much like the little 
Grouse, but unlike these birds, do not wander much, contenting themselves with remaining 
in a very limited area until fully grown. Like the Ruffed Grouse, Quails are liable to be 
killed during certain winters in the North, by the crusting of the snow under which they 
take refuge. 
ORDER XIII. LIMICOLAE. SHORE BIRDS. 
Legs, long and naked to above the tarsal joint. Posterior toe, when present, elevated 
above the level of the anterior. Marginal indentations, usually four. Terminal expansion 
of furcula, without central projection, and it does not approximate closely to the top of keel. 
