reflections of green; the whole being set off by several spots of shining black; but, as in every other kind of well painted birds, nature has, for some wise purposes yet unknown to us, denied the female that admirable beauty of plumage. The Pheasant lives in the woods, which he leaves at dusk to perambulate corn fields and other sequestered places, where he feeds, with his females, upon acorns, berries, grain, and seeds of plants, but chiefly on ants' eggs, of which he is particularly fond. His flesh is justly accounted better meat than any of the domestic or wild fowls, as it unites the delicacy of the common chicken to a peculiar taste of its own. The female lays eighteen or twenty eggs once a year, in the wild state; but it is in vain that we have attempted to domesticate this bird entirely, as she never will remain patiently confined; and, if she ever breeds in confinement, she is very careless of her brood.

There are great varieties of Pheasants, of extraordinary beauty and brilliancy of colours; many of these, brought from the rich provinces of China, are kept in aviaries in this kingdom: the common Pheasant is likewise a native of the East, and is the only one of its kind that has multiplied in our island; but of late years they have become so numerous in our preserves, that, at feeding time in the morning, they may be seen in the neighbouring fields in large numbers, running about almost as tame as chickens.

This beautiful bird is elegantly described in the following passage:

See! from the brake the whirring Pheasant springs,

And mounts exulting on triumphant wings;

Short is his joy; he feels the fiery wound,

Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground;
Ah! what avails his glossy, varying dyes,
His purple crest, his scarlet-circled eyes,
The vivid green his shining plumes unfold,

His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold!

POPE'S WINDSOR FOREST.

Is in weight about fourteen ounces. The shape of this bird is peculiar to himself and the quail, both having a very short tail; his plumage, although it cannot boast of gaudiness, is very pleasing to the eye, being altogether a mixture of brown and fawn colour, interspersed with gray and ash colour tints. The head is small and pretty; the beak strong, but short, and resembling that of all other granivorous birds. The female lays fifteen or eighteen eggs, and leads her brood in the corn fields with the utmost care. The affection of Partridges for their offspring is peculiarly interesting. Both the parents lead them out to feed; they point out to them the proper places for their food, and assist them in finding it by scratching the ground with their feet. They frequently sit close together, covering the young ones with their wings; and from this protection they are not easily roused. If, however, they are disturbed, most people acquainted with rural affairs know the confusion that ensues. The male gives the first signal of alarm, by a peculiar cry of distress; throwing himself at the same moment more immediately into the way of danger, in order to

mislead the enemy. He flutters along the ground, hanging his wings, and exhibiting every symptom of debility. By this stratagem he seldom fails of so far attracting the attention of the intruder as to allow the female to conduct the helpless unfledged brood into some place of security. Their nest is usually on the ground; but, on the farm of Lion Hall, in Essex, belonging to Colonel Hawker, a Partridge, in the year 1788, formed her nest, and hatched sixteen eggs, on the top of a pollard oak tree! What renders this

circumstance the more remarkable is, that the tree had, fastened to it, the bars of a stile, where there was a footpath; and the passengers, in going over, discovered and disturbed her before she sat close. When the brood was hatched, the birds scrambled down the short and rough boughs, which grew out all around the trunk of the tree, and reached the ground in safety. It has long been a received opinion among sportsmen, as well as among naturalists, that the female Partridge has none of the bay feathers of the breast like the male. This, however, on dissection, has proved to be a mistake; for, Mr. Montagu happening to kill nine birds in one day, with very little variation as to the bay mark on the breast, he was led to open them all, and discovered that five of them were females. On carefully examining the plumage, he found that the males could only be known by the superior brightness of colour about the head; which alone, after the first or second year, seems to be the true mark of distinction. They fly in coveys till about the third week in February, when they separate and pair; but if the weather be very severe, it is not unusual to see them collect together again into coveys. Partridges have ever held a distinguished place at the tables of the luxurious; we have an old distich :

:

If the Partridge had the woodcock's thigh,
'Twould be the best bird that e'er did fly.

Is a small bird, being in length no more than seven inches. The colour of the breast and belly is of a dirty pale yellow, the throat has a little mixture of red; the head is black, and the body and wings have black stripes upon an hazel-coloured ground. Their habits and manner of living resemble those of the partridge, and they are either caught in nets by decoy birds, or shot by the help of the setting dog, their call being easily imitated by tapping two pieces of copper one against another. The flesh of the Quail is very luscious, and next in taste to that of the partridge. Quails are birds of passage, the only peculiarity in which they differ from all other of the poultry kind; and such prodigious numbers have sometimes appeared on the western coast of the kingdom of Naples, that one hundred thousand have been caught in one day, within the space of three or four miles. 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 St. Petersburg. The female lays seldom more than six or seven eggs.

The ancient Athenians kept this bird merely for the sport of fighting with each other, as game cocks do, and never eat the flesh; it was that wild fowl which God thought proper to send to the chosen people, as a sustenance in the desert.

Is called by some ornithologists the Moor-Cock, GorCock, and Red Game. The beak is black and short; over the eyes there is a bare skin of a bright red. The general colour of the plumage is red and black, variegated and intermixed with each other, except the wings, which are brownish, spotted with red, and the tail, which is black; the legs are covered with long thick feathers down to the very toes. This bird is common in the north of England, Scotland, and in Wales; and not only affords great diversion to the noblemen and gentlemen of those countries who are fond of shooting, but also repays them well for their trouble, as the flesh of this wild fowl is very delicate, and holds on our table the first place with the partridge and the pheasant.

In winter they are usually found in flocks of sometimes fifty to one hundred in number, which are termed by sportsmen packs, and become remarkably shy and wild, seldom allowing the shooter to approach them within one hundred yards. They keep near the summits of the heathy hills, and seldom descend to the lower grounds.