tain, they began to droop one- after.a n o th e r a n d before
Christmas all "the young. birds died. Though I examined
the stomachs and gizzards'of most* of ihem; -yet I never; cönld
find ont the cause of their deaths; $ p t I havai little doubt of
its „being some deleterious Substance picked up-! in-the place
where I separated them from the old ones,« soon after tlMy
became fully fledged, as the old birds- ëscaped jthis mortaliiÊi
‘ The other pair never bred;, but it was easily‘.accounted
for, as the hen was unwell from the^ffme l i furned them
down, and she lingered on to October, and th envied: r :
—“ rPie^ously. to and during' the time -thé hen was* sittings
the cock serenaded her with his harsh and singular note^f
some of them very similar to the. mewitogjof, a cat. 1 He had
-also a peculiarity of constantly running round in a^cfe^e^till
the ground wheréon he performed, his evolutions was'iwèÉfeas
bare as a road, and thlrturf trodden"down much in the aame
way as it j& by the Ruff in the fens during the^ season ?of
incubation.
‘‘-‘Nothing, could, be ^ more cordial and harmonious than
this happy family» When the shades of e^^hing*'app»acho%v.
they crowded together in a circle on the ground, and -pres-
•pared for the slumbers of the night by placing?'the^als-iall
.together; with their pretty mottled&chmsrfacing- td 'ffe : front
in a watchful .round-robin.
“ When food was thrown in for them,-which consisted'
chiefly, of spirted barley, and wheat, and occasionally'.bread,
the male bird would peck at the grain, but norieat any him- ‘
self until he had called his family around him first to partake
of the food, which he did with many soft-blandishments, and
with much strutting and spreading of the wings and tail.
“ I was greatly disappointed at the loss of "this interesting
family ; and I waited with some impatience for the result of
another season.. The season at length arrived: they built
their nest again as before the hen laid about sixteen eggs ;
when, to my. great mortification, just as she had begun to sit,
I found her dead oile morning; and can no otherwise account
for the circumSteMee' than by-supposing that something must
have "frightened 'User rift the night, and tausedfher to fly up
with violencevagaihMif the wirCS|’"which proved fatal to her.
Thus ended myShppes^ilfdomesticating this elegant little
bW, as I Have -not? beeilf able**'to procure another female. I
\wished much tu-breed Soindniore, and turn them out if successful,
as'"they la y many. and are much more easily
reared than Either Pheasants or Partridges:.1- ^
This bird is’M ® "gfeiieral inhabitant of North America, from
the northern-parts *©& tSfenada and Nova? Scotia/,-’ in which
latter-place itris? said-to -feymigratoryi, to the extremity‘of the
peninsula of/Mori'da»: In the eastern and middle' districts,
Mr. Audubon says,' its. Common «ft'afaC is that of Quail, but
in the western andgsii^tliern States, it is called a Partridge.
Their food, in a wild state, cobSiStS'-of grain, seeds, insects,
and herrieflf hut /buekwheat 'and. Indian corn are also' particular
favourites.- -%M' feggs-- are white one inch two lines
andiLa' half iifelengthy by one- inch ini breadth,- at the larger
fend; from whence they taper rapidly to a point. The nest
in its form; and the habit of the covey of clustering in a
circle,' in a wild- state, are as already' 'described.' Various
devices are employed for taking them f and they are to be
seen in the markets-of the United”-States in considerable
quantities, bbi-B* alive and dead. Their flesh is white, tender,
and delicate;-and is accordingly very much in request.
The adult male bias the beak almost black; the irides
h a z e lu p p e r part of the head dark chestnut brown; these
feathers occasionally'elevated, forming a crest; from the forehead
to the eye, and from thence over and behind the ear-
coverts, a band of pure white, below this a band of dark
chestnut brown and black, which reaches the sides of the
neck, where the brown feathers are white in the middle ; the
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