_Tetrao virginianus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 277, 16
(female?).—GMELIN, I, 1788, 761. _Perdix virginiana_, LATH. Ind. Orn.
II, 1790, 650.—WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 21, pl. xlvii.—DOUGHTY’S
Cab. I, 1830, 37, pl. iv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 388; V, 1839,
564, pl. lxxvi. _Perdix_ (_Ortyx_) _virginiana_, BONAP. Obs.
Wils. 1825, No. 203. _Ortyx virginiana_, JARDINE, Nat. Library
Birds, IV, Game Birds, 101, pl. x.—BON. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn.
1839, 199.—IB. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 59, pl. cclxxxix.—GOULD, Mon.
Odont. pl. i.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 640.—NEWTON, Ibis, I, 255
(Santa Cruz; introduced!).—BRYANT, B. Pr. VII, 1859 (Bahamas;
introduced!).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1861, 80 (Jamaica).—MARCH, P. A. N. S.
1863, 303 (Jamaica).—MAX. Cab. J. VII, 1858, 444.—GRAY, Cat. Brit.
Mus. V, 1867, 75.—FOWLER, Am. Nat. III, Dec. 1869, 535 (habits).
_Perdix_ (_Colinia_) _virginiana_, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 646. _Tetrao
marilandicus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 277, 18.—GMELIN, I, 1788,
761, 17. _Perdix marilandica_, LATHAM, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 650.
_Tetrao minor_, BARTRAM, Travels, 1791, 290 bis. _Perdix borealis_,
VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict.—IB. Galerie, II, 44, pl. ccxiv. _Ortyx
borealis_, STEPH., Shaw’s Zoöl. XI, 1819, 377. _Virginia Partridge_,
LATHAM, Syn. II, ii, 777. _Ortyx castaneus_, GOULD, P. Z. S. X,
182.—IB. Mon. Odont. (A somewhat melanistic plumage, occasionally seen
in specimens from Iowa, Illinois, etc. ?)
SP. CHAR. Forehead, and line through the eye and along the side of the
neck, with chin and throat, white. A band of black across the vertex,
and extending backwards on the sides, within the white, and another
from the maxilla beneath the eye, and crossing on the lower part of
the throat. The under parts are white, tinged with brown anteriorly;
each feather with several narrow, obtusely V-shaped bands of black. The
forepart of back, the side of the breast, and in front just below the
black collar, of a dull pinkish-red. The sides of body and wing-coverts
brownish-red; the latter almost uniform, without indication of mottling.
Scapulars and upper tertials coarsely blotched with black, and edged
internally with brownish-yellow. Top of head reddish; the lower part of
neck, except anteriorly, streaked with white and black. Primary quills
unspotted brown. Tail ash. _Female_ with the white markings of the head
replaced by brownish-yellow; the black ones with brownish.
_Young._ Head ashy, with a narrow post-ocular white stripe, and the
crown spotted with black; throat whitish. Beneath pale dingy-ashy, with
whitish shaft-streaks, and without black bars or other markings. Above
reddish or olivaceous drab, the feathers with whitish shaft-streaks, and
a large black spot, mostly on upper web.
_Chick._ Head dingy buff; an auricular dusky elongated spot, and a
vertical patch of chestnut-rufous, widening on the occiput.
Length, 10.00; wing, 4.70; tail, 2.85.
_Hab._ Eastern United States to the high Central Plains; Devil’s River,
Texas?
Specimens from Missouri and Southern Illinois are intermediate between
the typical _virginianus_ of the Northeastern States and Florida
examples,[116] which approach in every respect, except the broad jugular
collar, the var. _cubanensis_. The size is scarcely greater,—the range
in Florida birds being wing 4.10 to 4.30, while the average of Missouri
and Southern Illinois series is about 4.25; again, in northern and
eastern specimens the wing is 4.70 to 4.80. In colors, Southern Illinois
and Florida birds are also very similar; but in Florida there is less
tendency to black blotches on scapulars, etc., while in specimens from
the southern part of the peninsula the bill is appreciably larger. From
the plains of Kansas specimens are intermediate between these Illinois
birds and the var. _texanus_.
[Illustration: _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.
Late in April or early in May they construct their nests, always on the
ground, usually under the protection of some cluster of bushes, in a
depression. It is often on the slope of a small eminence. It is very
simple, the materials loosely put together, and wholly of coarse stubble
or straw. All that I have seen have been arched over at the top, and
with a partially covered entrance; but I am told that it is as often
open as covered. The eggs are spoken of in the books as from fifteen to
twenty. I have never found less than twenty-four, and from that number
to thirty-two. I think that each female lays but about eight, and that
several females make use of the same nest,—never less than two, nor more
than four. But this opinion is conjectural rather than ascertained. They
have two broods in a season, the second in August, at which time the
male is engaged in leading the first brood, of which he takes charge
when they are hardly half grown. He is a courageous, watchful, and
devoted guardian. Once as I was rapidly descending a path on the side
of a hill, among a low growth of scrub-oak I came suddenly upon a covey
of young Quail, feeding on blueberries, and directly in the path. They
did not see me until I was close upon them, when the old bird, a fine
old male, flew directly towards me and tumbled at my feet as if in a
dying condition, giving at the same time a shrill whistle, expressive
of intense alarm. I stooped and put my hand upon his extended wings,
and could easily have caught him. The young birds, at the cry of the
parent, flew in all directions; and their devoted father soon followed
them, and began calling to them in a low cluck, like the cry of the
Brown Thresher. The young at this time were hardly more than a week old,
and seemed to fly perfectly well to a short distance. The female was
nowhere to be seen, but may have been previously killed, or may have
been already in her second incubation at that early stage. The young
run as soon as they are hatched, and from the first aid their flight
with their wings; when pursued, I have never known them to squat in the
manner of the Ruffed Grouse, but rather to hide themselves in thick
bushes or tufts of grass, running from these if discovered.
The male bird has a loud, clear, and very distinctive whistle, which
in New England is interpreted as _No more wet_, or, if his utterance
is more hurried and excited, as _More wet_; and there are those who
still attach to these utterances a meteorological significance. In
other parts of the country this cry is supposed to be _Ah Bob-white_,
or _Bob-white_, and the birds are not unfrequently called Bob-Whites, a
name suggested by Professor Baird as a good specific designation. Their
note when calling their young brood is very different, and is a low
twitter, suggestive of affection, caution, and gentle care. It is soft
and subdued, and would readily escape notice.
They make a loud whirring sound when they take to flight, but they
rarely fly to any distance, even when most alarmed, as their flight
is somewhat laborious. They often escape by running on the ground,
especially when they are not suddenly startled.
Mr. Audubon states that at the West this bird performs occasional
migrations towards the southeast in October, in the manner of the Wild
Turkey; but I cannot find that others have noticed this occurrence. In
the Southern and Western States, where this species is very plentiful,
they are taken in immense numbers in large nets, into which they are
cautiously and slowly driven by a party of hunters.
This species, with proper pains, may be easily raised in confinement,
induced to breed, and trained into a condition of partial domestication.
Rev. Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, S. C., succeeded in obtaining, by
hatching under a Bantam Hen, a brood of young Quails. Confining them
with their foster-mother for a few days, they were soon taught to follow
her like young chickens. They were fed at first on curds, but soon began
to eat cracked Indian-corn and millet. They were permitted to stray at
large in the garden, one wing of each having been shortened. They became
very gentle, and were in the habit of following Dr. Bachman through
his house, seating themselves on the table at which he was writing,
occasionally, in play, pecking at his hands or running off with his pen.
At night they nestled in a coop in the garden. Although these pets had
no opportunity of hearing any other sounds than those of the poultry,
the male birds commenced in the spring their not unmusical note of
_Bob-white_, at first low, but increasing in loudness, until they were
heard through the whole neighborhood. Their notes were precisely like
those of the wild birds. As the spring advanced the males became very
pugnacious, and continued contests took place among themselves, as well
as with the Pigeons and the poultry that intruded on their premises.
Their eggs were placed under a Hen and hatched out. The experiment went
no further, but was quite sufficient to demonstrate the possibility of
their domestication.
Wilson relates that in one instance a female of this species set upon
and hatched out the eggs of the common Hen. For several weeks after, his
informant occasionally surprised her in various parts of the plantation
with her brood of chickens, on which occasion she exhibited every
indication of distress and alarm, and practised her usual manœuvres for
their preservation. She continued to lead them about until they were
larger than herself, and their manners had all the shyness and timidity
and alarm of young Quails.
Mr. Allen states (Am. Nat., July, 1872) that this species has been
recently introduced into the Great Salt Lake Valley, and in 1871
was giving promise of multiplying rapidly and becoming thoroughly
naturalized, young birds having been raised in the summer of 1871.
The eggs of this species are of a pure, brilliant white color, sharply
pointed at one end, and obtusely rounded at the other. They average
about 1.35 inches in length by one inch in breadth.
Ortyx virginianus, var. texanus, LAWRENCE.
_Ortyx texanus_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, April, 1853, 1.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 641, pl. lxii.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 22, pl.
xxiv.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 27 (S. E. Texas; breeds).—GRAY, Cat. Brit.
Mus. V. 1867, 75.—HEERM. X, c. 18.
SP. CHAR. General appearance that of _O. virginianus_. Chin, throat,
forehead, and stripe over the eye, white. Stripe behind the eye,
continuous with a collar across the lower part of the throat, black.
Under parts white, with zigzag transverse bars of black. Above pale
brownish-red, strongly tinged with ash, the feathers all faintly though
distinctly mottled with black; the lower back, scapulars, and tertials
much blotched with black, the latter edged on both sides, and, to some
extent, transversely barred with brownish-white. Secondaries with
transverse bars of the same on the outer web. Wing-coverts coarsely and
conspicuously barred with blackish. Lower part of neck, except before,
streaked with black and white.
_Female_ with the white of the head changed to brownish-yellow; the
black of the head wanting. Length, 9.00; wing, 4.35; tail, 2.85.
HAB. Southern Texas and Valley of the Rio Grande; Republican River,
Kansas; Washita River, Indian Territory.
HABITS. This form, which appears to be confined to the southern portion
of Texas and to the valley of the Rio Grande River, was first described
by Mr. Lawrence in 1853. It has been taken in the neighborhood of San
Antonio and on the Nueces River by Captain Pope; on Devil’s River by
Major William H. Emory; at Fort Clark, on the Pecos River, near Laredo,
Texas, at Matamoras, and near New Leon, Mexico, and in other localities,
by Lieutenant Couch. According to Mr. Clark, they were very abundant in
the valley of the Pecos, as well as in all Southwestern Texas. They were
much like the common Virginia Quail in habits as well as in appearance,
and to his ear the note of this bird was absolutely identical with that
of the common Quail. He has often been a spectator of fights among
the males of this variety. To this account Dr. Kennerly adds that he
observed them everywhere in considerable numbers from the coast to
the headwaters of Devil’s River, and also along the Pecos River; but
farther west than this none were seen. In the open prairie lands great
numbers were always found early in the morning in the road. The close
resemblance of its habits to those of the common Partridge was also
noticed.
This Quail was first observed by Dr. Heermann in abundance on the Pecos
River, although seen some days previous to reaching that point. Their
numbers increased as they neared civilization, and near San Antonio they
became very plentiful. The call of the male bird is said to consist
of two notes repeated at intervals, which are less loud, clear, and
ringing than those of the common _Ortyx virginianus_. They feed on the
open prairies on grass-seeds, grains, berries, and insects, and, if
alarmed, take refuge among the scattered mesquite-trees and clumps of
bushes. When hunted, they lie to the dog in the manner of the common
species, and, if flushed, fly in a direct line, with a loud whirring
noise, caused by the shortness and rapid motions of the wings. An egg of
this bird, found by Dr. Heermann dropped upon the road, was in form and
color like that of the common Quail, but smaller.
Mr. Dresser states that in Texas this bird is known as the “Common
Partridge” of the country. He found it abundant everywhere in localities
suitable to its habits. Near Matamoras it was very common, and was
the only species of Quail he noticed there. At Eagle Pass and Piedras
Negras, where the soil is sandy, the grass scanty, and cacti abundant,
he saw only one bevy, but plenty of the _Callipepla squamata_. Near San
Antonio only this Quail is found, nor did he observe any other species
in travelling towards the northeast. Amongst the Bandara Hills, where
he met with the Massena Partridge, he also found the Texan Quail in
the valley and near the maize-fields. In travelling from Brownsville
to San Antonio the Texan Quail was everywhere abundant except in the
sand-deserts. This species was found to be rather irregular as to its
breeding-season, as he found young birds near Matamoras early in July,
and in September again met with quite young birds near the Nueces
River, and Dr. Heermann informed him that he had likewise procured eggs
near San Antonio late in September. He obtained a set of their eggs
taken near San Antonio, which are very similar to those of the _Ortyx
virginianus_, but are slightly smaller.