Ortyx virginianus.
A pair of Quails from Jamaica, probably derived from Continental parents, are less different from United States specimens than are those from Cuba or Texas. In size they are like the former, and have also an equally large bill; the male, however, is not darker beneath than Southern specimens of virginianus, while the female is absolutely undistinguishable in color from examples of that race from the Middle States.
Habits. The present species, known in New England and in certain other parts of the country as the Quail, and in the Middle and Southern States as the Partridge,—either of which names, belonging to other and quite different birds, is inappropriate,—is found throughout the eastern portion of North America from Florida to Maine, and from the Atlantic to Texas on the south and to the Central Plains. Partially successful attempts have been made to introduce it in Utah, and its area promises to extend much farther west than its original limits. This species has also been acclimated in Jamaica, and now abounds in all parts of that island. There they are said, by Mr. March, to make no nest, but to lay on the ground, in tufts of grassroots or under clumps of bushes, usually from twelve to twenty eggs. These are smaller than with us, measuring 1.25 inches by an inch. Mr. March adds that, during incubation, the male may usually be found sitting on a low branch in the vicinity of the nest, but does not assist in incubation.
The Quail has also been introduced into the island of St. Croix, and is now very common in almost every part of it, being especially abundant in the grass lands of the southwestern part. Their habits appear to be somewhat modified by their place of abode, as Mr. Newton has several times seen birds of this species fly up from the ground when flushed, and perch upon trees. He also states that, so far as he could find, their nest is never covered over, as described by some writers, but consists merely of a shallow hole scraped in the ground, in which is deposited a little dried grass or “trash,” the leaves of the sugar-cane. It is often placed to leeward of a protecting cane “stool.”
This bird is probably found in all the New England States, though its presence in Maine is not certain, and, if found there at all, is only met with in the extreme southwestern portion. It is also rare in Vermont and New Hampshire, and only found in the southern portions. It is not given by Mr. Boardman, nor by Professor Verrill. Farther west it has a more northern distribution, being found in Northern New York and in Southern Canada. Mr. McIlwraith gives it as resident in the neighborhood of Hamilton.
In many parts of Massachusetts the Quail has become a very rare bird, owing to the ravages caused by sportsmen and the severity of winters, heavy falls of snow being frequently particularly fatal to them.
The Quails are not migratory, rarely moving to any extent from the spot where they were hatched, even in quest of food, and are easily affected by scarcity of food or by the severity of the winter season. In heavy falls of snow they frequently huddle together on the ground, and allow themselves to be buried in the drifts. If the snow is light, they can easily extricate themselves, and run over its surface in quest of berries and the seeds of shrubs; but if the fall be followed by a partial thaw, and a crust forms, the birds are made prisoners within its impenetrable cover, and miserably perish of hunger. In the severe winter of 1866 and 1867, large numbers of Quails thus perished throughout all parts of Massachusetts. When the snow melted, they were found, in numerous instances, crowded close together and embedded in the frozen drifts.
Unlike most birds of this family, the American Quail never collects in large flocks, but usually moves in small family groups, varying in number from ten to thirty, but too often reduced to a mere remnant by the inroads of the sportsman. When there are two broods in a season, the second brood unites with the first, and, if unmolested, they keep together until the spring, under the guidance of the parents. In the mating-season they usually separate into pairs, though occasionally a male will associate with more than a single female, in which case their joint product is united in the same nest. In the spring of 1850 I found one of the nests which contained no less than thirty-two eggs. The nest was placed on the side of a hill, in an open pasture, within a few rods of the main street, and in the midst of the principal village in Hingham. It was comparatively small, composed of coarse stems of grass, arched at the top, with the entrance on one side, and the eggs were promiscuously piled one upon another. The latter were removed for the purpose of ascertaining the exact number, but very carefully replaced; yet the parent birds deserted them, as they are said always to do if their eggs are handled. An attempt was made to hatch the eggs under a common Hen, but it proved unsuccessful. As the nest was in so exposed a place, it is quite possible that its abandonment by the parent may have been occasioned by other causes than our touching the eggs.
These birds are always found in grounds more or less open, preferring those in which there is abundance of low trees and clusters of shrubs in which they can shelter themselves, on the edges of woods, where they occasionally hide or roost on low branches near the ground. Their favorite food is seeds of various plants, and berries; and in the fall of the year, or late in summer, they feed largely on grasshoppers, and on this food they thrive and become very fat. They are also very fond of buckwheat, corn, and all the kinds of grain. In confinement they eat beechnuts, acorns, and other kinds of nuts, if broken for them. In villages where they are not molested they become very tame, freely approach the barnyards to feed with the poultry, and will even come at the call of their friends and pick up food thrown to them. This is especially noticeable in Florida, where the representatives of the small race of the species found there are very numerous and remarkably confiding.
The Quail is esteemed a great delicacy as an article of food, and is sought for the market by means of traps, nets, and various kinds of snares, and by sportsmen with the gun and dogs. It is naturally unsuspicious, is easily approached, and in the thickly settled parts of the country its ranks are already greatly thinned. It is gradually disappearing from New England, and is now very rare in large tracts where it was once quite abundant. In some localities they have only been retained by the importations of others from a distance. They are of gentle disposition, are apparently much attached to each other both in the conjugal and in the parental relations, and always keep closely together in the small flocks associating together. In the fall the old birds remain with their offspring of the season, and direct the movements of their family. They always keep close together, by day as well as by night, roost on the ground under the shelter of bushes in a circle, their bodies closely impacted, and their heads forming the exterior. This conduces alike to their safety and to their warmth.