196 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA! 
has a small tuft on its head. A few humming 
birds make their appearance in summer, but 
their plumage is not so beautiful as those found 
more to the southward. 
Of the other common birds there are but 
few worth notice. Doves and quails, or par-* 
tridges as they are sometimes called, afford 
good diversion for the sportsman. These last 
birds in their habits are exactly similar to Eu¬ 
ropean partridges, excepting that they alight 
sometimes upon trees; their size is that of the 
quail, but they are neither the same as the Eng¬ 
lish quail or the English partridge. It is the 
same with many other birds, as jays, robins, 
larks, pheasants, &c. which were called by 
the English settlers after the birds of the same 
name in England, because they bore some re¬ 
semblance to them, though in fact they are 
materially different. In the lower parts of Vir¬ 
ginia, and to the southward, are great numbers 
of large birds, called turkey buzzards, which, 
when mounted aloft on the wing, look like 
eagles. In Carolina there is a law prohibiting 
the killing these birds, as they feed upon 
putrid carcases, and therefore contribute to 
keep the air wholesome. There is only one 
bird more which I shall mention, the whipper- 
will, or whip-poor-will, as it is sometimes 
called, from the plaintive noise that it makes ; 
to my ear it sounded wyp-b-il. It begins to 
