Ortyx Virginiana.
| Tetrao Virginianus, | Linn.—Aud. pl. 76. |
| Ortyx Virginiana, | Steph. |
[95] Length 9¼ inches, expanse 14¼, flexure 4½, tail 2⁴⁄₁₀, rictus ⁷⁄₁₀, tarsus 1½, middle toe 1⁴⁄₁₀.
This beautiful game-bird, a native of North America, was introduced into Jamaica about a hundred years ago, where it was very soon naturalized, and became abundant. It is found in almost all situations, where there is cover; and from its peculiar manners, its loud call, and the sapidity of its flesh, is familiar to all.
It is scarcely seen but in coveys of a dozen or more, which run among the grass, and, if alarmed, lie so close, as to be unseen till a person is at the spot; when suddenly they rise from beneath his feet, and fly on rapid wing, and with loud whirr, to a short distance; then descending, run so swiftly as to defy pursuit. If, however, on springing a covey of Quail, we remain perfectly still, and keep a watchful eye on the spot whence they arose, we may chance to see one or two still squatting among the grass; for often some remain after their companions have departed.
Various kinds of pulse, and graminaceous seeds afford it food; in winter it lives largely on the small spotted peas of the lesser fee-fee, (Clitoria Virginiana.)
Robinson describes the egg:—“the colour, white; length 1¼, breadth ¹⁵⁄₁₆ inch. Nineteen were found in one nest.”—(MSS. iii. 159.) He afterwards says, “A nest has been known to contain no less than thirty.”
Before I dismiss the Gallinaceous birds, I may mention an interesting fact, of which Mr. Hill informed me; that the Turkey is, as far as European knowledge is concerned, indigenous to the greater Antilles, having been found by the Spanish discoverers, already domesticated by the Indians; and that the European domestic breed is descended from West Indian, and not from North American parentage. This would perhaps tend to confirm, what has been suspected, that the domestic Turkey is specifically distinct from the wild Turkey of North America.