This is one of the best-known and most-esteemed of our native game birds; its scientific name is Perdix cinerea, the first term meaning a Partridge, and the last ash-coloured, the prevailing tint of the plumage of this species being ashy grey and brown, with a reddish tinge throughout. Beautifully marked and mottled is the dress of the plump little Partridge, as our readers know well,—delicately barred, and pencilled, and variegated, as if to shew what glorious effects may be produced with two or three colours only.
Partridges are tolerably plentiful in nearly all parts of Great Britain, where cultivation has smoothed the rugged features of the landscape; for, unlike the Grouse, which retreat as man advances further and further into the wilds of nature, these birds seldom go far from the farm and the home plantations. Coveys, as the family parties are called, are sometimes met with on the edges of moors, and they often wander, as Mr. Morris tells us, to wastes and commons; but their home is not there; the clover, turnip, grass, or stubble field is their cover and resting-place; there, and in the coppice and along the hedge-row they feed, and build their nests, if the placing a few loose straws in a hole scratched in the ground can be called building; there they lay their eggs, generally ten or twelve in number, although sometimes more, and of a uniform pale greenish brown colour. Early in the spring, from the first to the middle of February, may the not unpleasing call—chicurr, chicurr—of these birds be heard; and towards the end of May, or the beginning of June, the nest will most likely be quite finished. The hen bird alone sits, the male keeping watch, and, when the covey are hatched, assisting to feed and protect them from their numerous foes. The chicks run directly they are out of the shell, frequently with portions of it sticking to them; they are very lively and nimble, and so escape many dangers. But one brood is reared in the year, unless the first eggs are taken, in which case others will be laid, and the work of incubation recommenced, although the eggs will be less in number, and the young, it is said, weaker. It is related by Mr. Jesse, as a curious fact, that "when young Partridges are hatched, and have left the nest, the two portions of the shell will be found placed one within the other." We have observed this in eggs of the Common Fowl, and believe with the above-named naturalist that it is done by the chicks themselves, in their efforts to escape from their confinement.
QUAIL.
COMMON OR WANDERING QUAIL.
FIGURE 30.
The Quail can scarcely be called a common bird with us, although it may be found occasionally in various parts of both England and Ireland, and sometimes, though very rarely, in Scotland. It is migratory, generally arriving in May and departing in September; some few remain throughout the year, and scraping together a few bits of dry grass, clover, or straw, make a rude nest in a hollow place on the ground, and there deposit their eggs, which are of a yellowish, greenish, or reddish white, blotched and speckled with brown. They vary in number from six to fourteen, and even, it is said, twenty; the most common number is ten. The period of incubation is about three weeks; the young, like Partridges, run as soon as hatched.
The Common Quail is a plump little bird, not much unlike the Partridge in its form, colours, and markings, but the head and throat are curiously barred with black and white, and the distinct patch of the latter colour beneath the chin gives the bird a very peculiar appearance. Naturalists call this species Perdix coturnix, the former term meaning a Partridge, and the latter a Quail.
This is thought by some to be the bird with which the children of Israel were fed in the wilderness, as mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, and the immense flocks which pass from country to country in the migratory seasons, render the supposition likely. It is said in Numbers xi., 31, that "There went forth a wind from the Lord and brought Quails from the sea;" and it is well known that the direction of the wind will often determine the flight of these birds. As many as one hundred thousand are said to have been taken in one day in the kingdom of Naples after an unusually exhausting flight over the Mediterranean; thousands of dozens are sent every year into the London market, where they are eagerly purchased: their flesh is esteemed a great delicacy.
Quails are desperate fighters, and in some countries are kept especially for the cruel "sport," as it is called, which their pugnacious propensities afford. They feed upon grain, seeds, young leaves, and insects; and have a shrill whistling note like whit, whit, which is called "piping."
BUSTARD.
COMMON OR BEARDED BUSTARD.
FIGURE 31.
If you can fancy a bird in general conformation something between an Ostrich and a Goose, you will have a pretty fair notion of the Great Bustard—Otis tarda as naturalists call it, the first term meaning a Bustard, and the second slow or lazy; yet lazy as he may be, this long-legged stalker is by no means slow in his movements when once roused to action; he runs with great swiftness, and, when he does take wing, which he appears to do with difficulty, has a strong and sustained flight. This is now a very rare species in Great Britain, although once plentiful, according to old writers, who state that it was customary with greyhounds
"To hunt the Bustards in the fens."