RASORES. TETRAONIDÆ.
T H E VIRGINIAN. COLIN.
Aanencan Quail, M o n t . Suppl. to OrnitfrTOctJy i
Grosbeak, White-winged. • •
Cotiimix Marylanda, ,, ,, Feem. Brit. An. p. 46.
Perdix Virginiana, Virginian Partridge, J enyns, Brit. Vett. p, 173f
Ortyx — „ ' ' \ ,^ 'rCdlins' Mieeii/fc. Brit. Birds, Vo®i^p.'55l8.r’
Perdix Borealis, Colin Colehicui, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vd:riv. p. 333.
OsTYxi generic -Characters.— Bill short, thick, and strong, higher than
broad, slightly convex, the-tip rounded. Nostrils-basal,, .linear, operculate,
nearly concealed. Feet of moderate length ; tarsus shorter than thejniddle toe.
Wings short, concaVe, rounded; thel-iiret feather short, the fifth the. longest in
the wing. Tsui of twelve feathers, rather short, and rounded.
T his bird, the Perdix Virginiana of Wilson and Mr.
Audubon, the Ortyx Virginianus of Bonaparte, called also
an Ortyx;.by Mr. Ajidubon in his recently published Synopsis
of the Birds of North America, has been introduced
jfco,, this cpuntry from the Ignited States.
The genus Ortyx, says Sir William Jardine, Bart, in his
octayo- edition of W.ilsen*s American Ornithology, vol. ii.
page %%§ 1 was formed by Mr."Stephens, in his continuation
of Shaw’s Zoology; for the lpjgeption of the thick and strongbilled
Partfidggs peppl-jar to both continental of the New
WorMy and ,the place th ^p l with the Partridges,
^anqol;ins;,japd Quails orf othep-6ountries, They live on the
borders |oL.wp^ds,^ramong brushwood, or on the /thick grassy
ipjLains, wan£l., [dwfrpffi the, cultivation'^ of.the country,- frequeRf
cultivated aH n L 'D u rin g the night snipe of them roost-on
trees, an^pceasionallyupfir^i ^uripg the »day; when alarmed,
or chased by jdogs,? ^hey fly to -th^aniddlo branches; and Mr.
Audubon femhrk|; they}'-3falk'W;kh|eafeevpn the branches. In
all these; habits ■ .their :alliance to the perching
a- variation-from the true Partridge,
.j.^he^^.fppfei^eyl am acquainted wit^ef the occurrence of this
.American Viy^-in -England, is furnished by Colonel Montage
ii^^iegSgpplempit|™ | § 1 Ornithological Dictionary, under
the article^Grosbeak, whitetyjnged, wherer it is stated that a
male was §Ept rnear Mansfield -by Mr, Harrison ; the specimen
was'sent .to Lord Stanley,,'now Earl of Derby. Montagu
afteryards adds, th e . American Quail has been. turned
„out income parts-of the British Empire, with a view to
, ...establish.. ^ i MdM^lbut we'believe without effect. The late
fGen(eral G abtpt liberated many on his estates dn Ireland; but
in two years the breecLwas Sir WiUiam Jardine; obtiiSqrXee
in tiejNaturalist’s Library, that u the;, Virginian Partridge
has been attempted to be introduced in several parts
l g j > f the European Continent, b fi yre, are uncertain with what