220 
FRANK FORESTER^ FIELD SPORTS. 
.English nomenclature by giving him a scientific title directly 
analogous to Quail, and not to Partridge. 
I should as soon think myself of calling the bird a Turkey as 
a Partridge, and I shall ever hold that the question is entirely 
set at rest, and that the true name of this dear little bird in the 
vernacular is American Quail ; and his country has better rea¬ 
son to be proud of him, than she has of many of her sons who 
make much more noise in the world than our favorite Bob- 
White. 
While on this subject, I may observe—for the benefit of our 
northern sportsmen, many of whom I have heard positively 
assert that the Quail is not migratory—that eveiy where west 
of the Delaware he is as distinctly a bird of migration as the 
Woodcock, and the farther west the more palpably so. Why 
he loses these habits with us of the Middle States I cannot 
guess, nor has any naturalist so much as alluded to the fact, 
which is nevertheless indisputable. 
It will be seen at once, from the foregoing description, that 
our American Quail is a most beautiful little bird; but his 
beauties do not consist merely in his plumage, but in his gait, 
his pretty pert movements, his great vivacity, his joyous atti¬ 
tudes, his constant and cheerful activity. 
He is in aH respects the most social, the merriest, and most 
amiable of his tribe. During the breeding season, he alone, of 
the gallinaceous tribe, makes wood and mead resound with 
his shrill, merry whistle, whence our country folk have framed 
to him a name Bob - 1 Vhitc , from some fancied similarity of 
sound, cheering his faithful partner during the toils of incu¬ 
bation. 
Afterward, when the bevies are collected, as he runs from 
the huddle in which he has passed the night, he salutes his 
bretlnen, peihaps thanks his Creator, for the pleasant dawn, 
with the most cheerful noise that can be fancied, a short, quick, 
ha PPy cheeping, “ and seems to be,” to borrow the words of 
the inimitable Audubon, I quote from memory alone, “the 
happiest little creature in the universe.” 
