"These birds," says Willoughby, "hold the principal place in the feasts and entertainments of princes; without which their feasts are esteemed ignoble, vulgar, and of no account. The Frenchmen do so highly value, and are so fond of, the partridge, that if they be wanting, they utterly slight and despise the best-spread tables; as if there could be no feast without them." But however this might be in the times of our historian, the partridge is now too common in France to be considered as a delicacy: and this, as well as every other simple dish, is exploded for luxuries of a more compound invention. In England, where the partridge is much scarcer, and a great deal dearer, it is still a favourite delicacy at the tables of the rich; and the desire of keeping it to themselves has induced them to make laws for its preservation, no way harmonizing with the general spirit of English legislation. What can be more arbitrary than to talk of preserving the game; which, when defined, means no more than that the poor shall abstain from what the rich have taken a fancy to keep for themselves? If these birds could, like a cock or a hen, be made legal property, could they be taught to keep within certain districts, and only feed on those grounds that belong to the man whose entertainments they improve, it then might, with some show of justice, be admitted, that as a man fed them, so he might claim them. But this is not the case; nor is it in any man's power to lay a restraint upon the liberty of these birds, that, when let loose, put no limits to their excursions. They feed everywhere; upon every man's ground; and no man can say these birds are fed only by me. Those birds which are nourished by all, belong to all; nor can any one man, or any set of men, lay claim to them when still continuing in a state of nature. I never walked out about the environs of Paris, that I did not consider the immense quantity of game that was running almost tame on every side of me, as a badge of the slavery of the people; and what they wished me to observe as an object of triumph, I always regarded with a kind of secret compassion: yet this people have no game-laws for the remoter parts of the kingdom; the game is only preserved in a few places for the king, and is free in most places else. In England the prohibition is general; and the peasant has not a right to what even slaves, as he is taught to call them, are found to possess. Of partridges there are two kinds; the gray and the red. The red partridge is the largest of the two, and often perches upon trees; the gray, with which we are best acquainted in England, is most prolific, and always keeps on the ground. 2 Modern ornithologists have ascertained many more varieties of partridges. The Greek partridge is more bulky than the red, with which it has frequently been confounded.-ED. The partridge seems to be a bird well known all over the world, as it is found in every country and in every climate; as well in the frozen regions about the pole, as the torrid tracts under the equator. It even seems to adapt itself to the nature of the climate where it resides. In Greenland, the partridge, which is brown in summer, as soon as the icy winter sets in, begins to take a covering suited to the season: it is then clothed with a warm down beneath; and its outward plumage assumes the colour of the snows among which it seeks its food. Thus it is doubly fitted for the place, by the warmth and the colour of its plumage; the one to defend it from the cold, the other to prevent its being noticed by the enemy. Those of Barakonda, on the other hand, are longer-legged, much swifter of foot, and choose the highest precipices and rocks to reside in. They all, however, agree in one character, of being immoderately addicted to venery; and, as some writers affirm, often to an unnatural degree. It is certain the male will pursue the hen even to her nest; and will break her eggs rather than not indulge his inclinations. Though the young ones have kept together in flocks during the winter, when they begin to pair in spring, their society disperses, and combats, very terrible with respect to each other, ensue. Their manners, in other circumstances, resemble all those of poultry in general; but their cunning and instincts seem superior to those of the larger kinds. Perhaps, as they live in the very neighbourhood of their enemies, they have more frequent occasion to put their little arts in practice; and learn, by habit, the means of evasion or safety. Whenever, therefore, a dog, or other formidable animal, approaches their nest, the female uses every means to draw him away. She keeps just before him, pretends to be incapable of flying, just hops up, and then falls down before him, but never goes off so far as to discourage her pursuer. At length, when she has drawn him entirely away from her secret treasure, she at once takes wing, and fairly leaves him to gaze after her in despair. After the danger is over, and the dog withdrawn, she then calls her young, who assemble at once at her cry, and follow where she leads them. There are generally from ten to fifteen in a covey; and, if unmolested, they live from fifteen to seventeen years. There are several methods of taking them, as is well known; that by which they are taken in a net with a setting dog, is the most pleasant, as well as the most secure. The dog, as everybody knows, is trained to this exercise by a long course of education; by blows and caresses he is taught to lie down at the word of command; a partridge is shown him, and he is then ordered to lie down: he is brought into the field, and when the sportsman perceives where the covey lies, he orders his dog to crouch at length the dog, from habit, crouches whenever he approaches a covey; and this is the signal which the sportsman receives for unfolding, and covering the birds with his net. A covey thus caught, is sometimes fed in a place proper for their reception; but they can never be thoroughly tamed, like the rest of our domestic poultry. СНАР. Х. THE QUAIL. THE last of the poultry kind that I shall mention, is the quail; a bird much smaller than any of the former, being not above half the size of a partridge. The feathers of the head are black, edged with rusty brown; the breast is of a pale yellowish red, spotted with black; the feathers on the back are marked with lines of a pale yellow, and the legs are of a pale hue. Except in the colours thus described, and the size, it every way resembles a partridge in shape; and, except that it is a bird of passage, all others of the poultry kind, in its habits and nature. flights is probably not so well founded as is generally supposed. These birds are much less prolific than the partridge; seldom laying more than six or seven whitish eggs, marked with ragged rust-coloured spots. But their ardour in courtship yields scarcely to any other bird, as they are fierce and cruel at that season to each other, fighting most desperately, and (a punishment they richly deserve) being at that time very easily taken. Quail-fighting was a favourite amusement among the Athenians: they abstained from the flesh of this bird, deeming it unwholesome, as supposing that it fed upon the white hellebore: but they reared great numbers of them, for the pleasure of seeing them fight; and staked sums of money, as we do with regard to cocks, upon the success of the combat. Fashion, however, has at present changed with regard to this bird; we take no pleasure in its courage, but its flesh is considered as a very great delicacy. Quails are easily caught by a call: the fowler, early in the morning, having spread his net, hides himself under it among the corn; he then imitates the voice of the female with his quailpipe, which the cock hearing, approaches with the utmost assiduity; when he has got under the net, the fowler then discovers himself, and terrifies the quail, who attempting to get away, entangles himself the more in the net, and is taken. The quail may thus very well serve to illustrate the old adage, that every passion, carried to an inordinate excess, will at last lead to ruin. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. The quail is by all known to be a bird of passage; and yet if we consider its heavy manner of flying, and its dearth of plumage, with respect to its corpulence, we shall be surprised how a bird so apparently ill-qualified for migration, should take such extensive journeys. Nothing, however, is more certain: "When we sailed from Rhodes to Alexandria," says Bellonius, "about autumn, many quails, flying from the north to the south, were taken in our ship; and sailing This genus was instituted by Mr. Stephens, in his at spring-time, the contrary way, from the south continuation of Shaw's General Zoology,' for the to the north, I observed them on their return, reception of such of the partridges as had thick when many of them were taken in the same bills. These are only found in North and South manner." This account is confirmed by many reside among brushwood, or in plains where the grass America. They frequent the borders of woods, and others; who aver, that they choose a north wind is thick and high, or among grain in fields which are for these adventures; the south wind being very cultivated. If disturbed they fly to trees, where unfavourable, as it retards their flight, by moist- they perch for safety, and walk with ease on the ening their plumage. They then fly two by two; perform occasional migrations from north-west to branches," according to Audubon; who says they continuing, when their way lies over land, to go south-east, usually in the beginning of October, and faster by night than by day; and to fly very somewhat in the manner of the wild turkey. The high, to avoid being surprised or set upon by Virginian quail (Ortyx Virginianu) abounds in the birds of prey. However, it still remains a doubt Eastern and Middle states of America, and is to be found in most districts of the Union, where it is callwhether quails take such long journeys as Bello-ed the Partridge.' It emigrates about the beginnius has made them perform. It is now asserted ning of October, at which time, the north-eastern by some, that the quail only migrates from one shores of the Ohio are literally covered with them. province of a country to another. For instance, During these excursions, they frequently fall into the water, and many of them perish, but if they drop at in England they fly from the inland counties to no great distance from the land, they easily reach those bordering on the sea, and continue there the shore by swimming, which Audubon affirms they all the winter. If frost or snow drive them out can do" surprisingly.' If Virginian quails are moof the stubble-field or marches, they then retreat lested, they take refuge in trees, always resorting to the sea-side, shelter themselves among the to the middle branches; and if they think they are noticed by the sportsman, they erect the feathers on weeds, and live upon what is thrown up from the the crown of their head, emit a low note, and escape sea upon shore. Particularly in Essex, the time to another part of the tree, or to a more distant one. of their appearance upon the coasts of that When they take to flight without being disturbed, the county exactly coincides with their disappear- frightened they disperse in various directions, and whole covey pursue the same course; but wher ance from the more internal parts of the king- after having alighted call to each other, and are soon dom; so that what has been said of their long congregated by the note of the patriarch-bird of the flock. The nest of this bird is of a circular form, in which it leaves an aperture not unlike in shape to that of a common oven. It is placed at the side of a thick tuft of grass, and is partly sunk in the ground. The female lays from ten to eighteen pure white eggs; and is assisted by the male in the tedious operation of incubation. They only rear one breed during a year. Their manner of reposing at night is rather curious, as mentioned by Audubon. He says, "the partridge rests at night on the ground, either amongst the grass or under a bent log. The individuals which compose the flock form a ring, and moving backwards, approach each other until their bodies are nearly in contact. This arrangement enables the whole covey to take wing when suddenly alarmed, each flying off in a direct course, so as not to interfere with the rest." The flesh of this bird is considered a delicate and agreeable food. The Californian quail (O. Californica) was first noticed by an editor of the voyage of the unfortunate La Pérouse, who also figured them in the plates illustrating that work. They are known to assemble in flocks of two or three hundreds in the low woods and plains of California. The flesh is said to be of a fine flavour. These quails are easily tamed, and soon become quite reconciled to a state of captivity. They are birds of an elegant bearing, the crests giving them a fine and striking appearance. Quails are found in most part of Great Britain, but nowhere in great quantity. The time of their migration from this country is August or September: they are supposed to winter in Africa; and they return early in the spring. At their arrival in Alexandria such multitudes are exposed in the markets for sale that three or four may be bought for a medina, a coin less than three farthings in value. Crews of merchant vessels have been fed upon them; and complaints have sometimes been laid at the consul's office, by mariners against their captains for giving them nothing but quails to eat. With wind and weather in their favour, they have been known to perform a flight of fifty leagues across the Black Sea the course of a night; a wonderful distance for so short-winged a bird. Such prodigious quantities have appeared on the western coast of the kingdom of Naples, in the vicinity of Netuno, that a hundred thousand have, in one day, been caught within the space of three or four miles. Most of them are taken to Rome, where they are in great request, and are sold at extremely high prices.-Clouds of quails also alight, in spring, along the coasts of Provence; especially in the lands belonging to the bishop of Frejus, which borders on the sea. Here they are sometimes found so exhausted, that for a few of the first days they may be taken with the hand. In some parts of the south of Russia they abound so greatly, that at the time of their migration they are caught by thousands, and sent in casks to Moscow and Petersburgh. In peaceful times we import great quantities of these birds from France, for the table; all of which are males. They are conveyed by stage coaches, in a large square box, divided into five or six compartments, one above another, just high enough to admit the quails to stand upright, and each box containing about a hundred birds. Were they allowed a greater height than this, they would soon kill themselves; and even with this precaution, the feathers of the top of the head are generally beaten off. These boxes have wire on the fore-part, and each partition is furnished with a small trough for food. They may be forwarded in this manner, without difficulty, to great distances. With respect to these birds having a distinct knowledge of the precise time for emigration, we have a very singular fact in some young quails, which having been bred in cages from the earliest part of their lives, had never enjoyed and therefore could not feel the loss of liberty. For four succes sive years they were observed to be restless, and to flutter with unusual agitations regularly in September and April; and this uneasiness lasted thirty days at each time. It began constantly an hour before sunset. The birds passed the whole night in these fruitless struggles, and always on the following day appeared dejected and stupid. There are above twenty species of quails BOOK V. OF BIRDS OF THE PIE KIND. CHAP. I. OF BIRDS OF THE PIE KIND. In marshalling our army of the feathered creation, we have placed in the van a race of birds long bred to war, and whose passion is slaughter; in the centre we have placed the slow and heavy laden, that are usually brought into the field to be destroyed; we now come to a kind of light infantry, that partake something of the spirit of the two former, and yet belonging to neither. In this class we must be content to marshal a numerous irregular tribe, variously armed, with different pursuits, appetites, and manners; not formidably formed for war, and yet generally delighting in mischief; not slowly and usefully obedient, and yet without any professed enmity to the rest of their fellow-tenants of the air. To speak without metaphor; under this class of birds we may arrange all that noisy, restless, chattering, teasing tribe, that lies between the hen and the thrush, that, from the size of the raven down to that of the woodpecker, flutter round our habitations, and rather with the spirit of pilferers than of robbers, make free with the fruits of human industry. Of all the other classes, this seems to be that which the least contributes to furnish out the pleasures, or supply the necessities of man. The toys as some of us put a value upon. A whole family has been alarmed at the loss of a ring; every servant has been accused, and every creature in the house, conscious of their own innocence, suspected each other; when, to the utter surprise of all, it has been found in the nest of a tame magpie or a jackdaw, that nobody had ever thought of. falcon hunts for him; the poultry tribe supplies | sion they have for shining substances, and such him with luxurious food; and the little sparrow race delight him with the melody of their warblings. The crane kind make a studied variety in his entertainments; and the class of ducks are not only many of them delicate in their flesh, but extremely useful for their feathers. But in the class of the pie kind, there are few, except the pigeon, that are any way useful. They serve rather to tease man, than to assist or amuse him. However, as this class is very numerous, it is Like faithless servants, they are fond of his neigh- not to be supposed that the manners are alike in bourhood, because they mostly live by his labour; all. Some, such as the pigeon, are gentle and but their chief study is what they can plunder serviceable to man; others are noxious, capriciin his absence, while their deaths make no atone-ous, and noisy. In a few general characters they ment for their depredation. all agree; namely, in having hoarse voices, slight active bodies, and a facility of flight that baffles even the boldest of the rapacious kinds in the pursuit. I will begin with those birds which most properly may be said to belong to this class, and go on till I finish with the pigeon, a harmless bird, that resembles this tribe in little else except their size, and that seems to be the shade uniting the pie and the sparrow kind into one general picture. But though, with respect to man, this whole class is rather noxious than beneficial; though he may consider them in this light, as false, noisy, troublesome neighbours, yet, with respect to each other, no class of birds are so ingenious, so active, or so well-fitted for society. Could we suppose a kind of morality among birds, we should find that these are by far the most industrious, the most faithful, the most constant, and the most connubial. The rapacious kinds drive It is not to be expected that in this sketch of out their young before they are fit to struggle the great magazine of nature, we can stop singly with adversity; but the pie kind cherish their to contemplate every object. To describe the young to the last. The poultry class are faith- number that offers would be tedious, and the less and promiscuous in their courtship; but similitude that one bears to another would make these live in pairs, and their attachments are the history disgusting. As a historian, in relatwholly confined to each other. The sparrowing the actions of some noble people, does not kind frequently overleap the bounds of nature, stop to give the character of every private man and make illicit varieties; but these never. in the army, but only of such as have been disThey live in harmony with each other; every tinguished by their conduct, courage, or treachspecies is true to its kind, and transmits an un-ery; so should the historian of nature only seize polluted race to posterity. As other kinds build in rocks or upon the ground, the chief place where these build is in trees or bushes; the male takes his share in the labours of building the nest, and often relieves his mate in the duties of incubation. Both take this office by turns; and when the young are excluded, both are equally active in making them an ample provision. upon the most striking objects before him; and having given one common account of the most remarkable, refer the peculiarities of the rest to their general description. СНАР. ІІ. They sometimes live in societies; and in these OF THE RAVEN, THE CROW, AND THEIR AFFINITIES. there are general laws observed, and a kind of republican form of government established among them. They watch not only for the general safety, but for that of every other bird of the grove. How often have we seen a fowler, stealing in upon a flock of ducks or wild geese, disturbed by the alarming note of a crow or a magpie: its single voice gave the whole thoughtless tribe warning, and taught them in good time to look to their safety. THE Raven, the Carrion-crow, and the Rook, are birds so well known, that a long description would but obscure our ideas of them. The raven is the largest of the three, and distinguished from the rest not only by his size, but by his bill being somewhat more hooked than that of the rest. As for the carrion-crow and the rook, they so strongly resemble each other in make and size, that they are not easily distinguished asunNor are these birds less remarkable for their der. The chief difference to be found between instincts than their capacity for instruction. them lies in the bill of the rook; which, by beThere is an apparent cunning or archness in the ing frequently thrust into the ground to fetch look of the whole tribe; and I have seen crows out grubs and earth-worms, is bare of feathers as and ravens taught to fetch and carry with the far as the eyes, and appears of a whitish colour. docility of a spaniel. Indeed, it is often an ex- It differs also in the purple splendour or gloss of ercise that, without teaching, all this tribe are its feathers, which in the carrion-crow are of a hut, too fond of. Everybody knows what a pas-dirty black. Nor is it amiss to make these dis tinctions, as the rook has but too frequently suffered for its similitude to the carrion-crow; and thus a harmless bird, that feeds only upon in sects and corn, has been destroyed for another that feeds upon carrion, and is often destructive among young poultry. a hawk; he may be taught to fetch and carry like a spaniel; he may be taught to speak like a parrot; but the most extraordinary of all is, that he can be taught to sing like a man. I have heard a raven sing 'the Black Joke' with great distinctness, truth, and humour.2 Indeed, when the raven is taken as a domestic, he has many qualities that render him extremely amusing. Busy, inquisitive, and impudent, he goes everywhere; affronts and drives off the dogs, plays his pranks on the poultry, and is particularly assiduous in cultivating the goodwill of the cook-maid, who seems to be the fa The manners of the raven and the carrioncrow are exactly similar; they both feed upon carrion; they fly only in pairs; and will destroy other birds, if they can take them by surprise. But it is very different with the rook, the daw, and the Cornish chough, which may be all ranked in this order. They are sociable and harmless; they live only upon insects and grain; and wher-vourite of the family. But then, with the amusever they are, instead of injuring other birds, they seem sentinels for the whole feathered creation. It will be proper, therefore, to describe these two sorts according to their respective appetites, as they have nothing in common but the very strong similitude they bear to each other in their colour and formation. ing qualities of a favourite, he often also has the vices and defects. He is a glutton by nature, and a thief by habit. He does not confine himself to petty depredations on the pantry or the larder; he soars at more magnificent plunder; at spoils that he can neither exhibit nor enjoy; but which, like a miser, he rests satisfied with from his pin-feather in intimacy with a dog, and that the affection was mutual. Ralph's poor dog, by some accident, had also got his leg broken; and during the long time he was confined, his friend waited upon him, constantly carrying him provisions, and scarcely ever quitting him. One night, by accident, the hostler had shut the stable-door, and Ralph was deprived of the company of his friend the whole night; but the hostler found, in the morning, the bottom of the door so pecked, that had it not been opened, Ralph would in another hour have made himself an entrance. The gentleman then inquired of the people of the house, who confirmed the above account, with several other traits of kindness which this bird had shown to all dogs in general; but particularly to maimed or wounded ones.—ED. The raven is a bird found in every region of the world; strong and hardy, he is uninfluenced by the changes of the weather; and when other birds seem numbed with cold, or pining with famine, the raven is active and healthy, busily employed in prowling for prey, or sporting in the coldest atmosphere. As the heats at the line do not oppress him, so he bears the cold of the polar countries with equal indifference. He is sometimes indeed seen milk white; and this may probably be the effect of the rigorous climates of the north. It is most likely that this change is wrought upon him as upon most other animals in that part of the world, where their robes, particularly in winter, assume the colour 2 At the seat of the earl of Aylesbury, in Wiltof the country they inhabit. As in old age, when shire, a tame raven, that had been taught to speak, used to ramble about in the park. There he was the natural heat decays, the hair grows gray, commonly attended and beset with crows, rooks, and and at last white; so among these animals the others of his inquisitive tribe. When a considerable cold of the climate may produce a similar lan- number of these were collected round him, he would guishment of colour, and may shut up those lift up his head, and with a hoarse and hollow voice pores that conveyed the tincturing fluids to the ex-put to flight and disperse his sable brethren; while shout out the word Holla! This would instantly tremest parts of the body. However this may be, white ravens are often shown among us, which I have heard some say, are rendered thus by art; and this we could readily suppose, if they were as easily changed in their colour as they are altered in their habits and dispositions. A raven may be reclaimed to almost every purpose to which birds can be converted. He may be trained up for fowling like 1 In the year 1785, a gentleman going into the Red Lion inn, at Hungerford, his chaise ran over, and sorely bruised the leg of his Newfoundland dog. Whilst examining the injury, and bathing the wound, a raven which belonged to the people of the house, attended, and was, apparently, a much concerned spectator. The dog's leg being dressed, he was tied up in the manger, where Ralph not only immediately visited him but brought him bones, and attended him with repeated marks of attention. The bird's notice of the dog was so very extraordinary that the gentleman questioned the hostler concerning the affair, who informed him, that the raven had been bred the raven seemed to enjoy the fright he had occasioned. Mr. Johnstone of Hill-House, near Holyrood, possesses a raven which he has reared from the nest, whence he was taken upwards of twenty-three years brated for his talking propensities, and especially for ago, who, like many of his captive brethren, is celethe distinctness with which, when interrogated concerning the illustrious generals of our time, he pronounces the name of his great name-father, not only the pleasure of his interlocutor, both in a pure English, in his native dialect, good broad Scotch, but also, at and genuine Irish accent. We are likewise informed that he barks so successfully that his voice can scarcely be distinguished from that of a good watchdog. He possesses, too, all the pugnacity of his species. At one time an owl was made the companion of his solitude, which, after a few days endurance, he slew and devoured: a common rook was next tried; and, for a few weeks, he seemed pleased with his associate, but it soon also shared the fate of the owl. He has this peculiarity, that the second primary feather of both wings is of a pure white colour, so that he is pie-bald, a trait not very uncom mon in his race, some of whom have been noticed wholly white.-ED. |