THE name of this bird implies, that he was origi nally a native of the banks of the river Phasis, in Armenia; how and when he emigrated and began to haunt our groves, is unknown. The colour of this half domesticated fowl is very beautiful, uniting the brightness of deep yellow gold to the finest tints of ruby and turquoise, with 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; and 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, is very careless of her brood. This beautiful bird is elegantly described in the following passage:

See! from the brake the whirring pheasant springs,
Ard 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!

The shape

Is in weight about fourteen ounces. 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 grey and ash colour tints.

The head is small and pretty; the beak strong, yet not long, 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. It is even said, that, when she finds that the pointer is at hand, she turns out, affecting lameness, to decoy the dog, and thereby gives her brood time to escape the enemy's search. Partridges fly in companies, the young never leaving the old ones till after February, when they pair together, and fly by two and two.

The shooting of Partridges, Quails, and other innocent inhabitants of the fields, where they live at no body's expense, upon what the last gleaners have left behind, is well described in the following lines:

Now mark

The fowler, as he stands and meditates
The cruel deed! See how, with steady g.asp
He holds the thund'ring messenger of death;
His eye fix'd,-levell❜d on the fatal tube ;
His forward leg -Amidst the bristling corn
His dog, as if by skilful Fluxman cut

In Parian stone, or cast in lasting bronze
By far-fam'd Westmacott, stands forth unmov'd,
Ready to give the deadly signal.- Hark!

'Tis done-shot through the heart, ske reels, she falls,
Far from her uest; whilst th' unsuspecting mate
Still leads the flutt'ring covey through the field.

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. Although it is certain, that Quails cannot remain long on the wing, yet it is believed, that they are birds of passage, the only peculiarity in which these birds differ from all other of the poultry kind. 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 ate the flesh; it was that wild fowl which God thought proper to send to the chosen people, as a sustenance in the desert

The head is small and pretty; the beak strong, yet not long, 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. It is even said, that, when she finds that the pointer is at hand, she turns out, affecting lameness, to decoy the dog, and thereby gives her brood time to escape the enemy's search. Partridges fly in companies, the young never leaving the old ones till after February, when they pair together, and fly by two and two.

The shooting of Partridges, Quails, and other innocent inhabitants of the fields, where they live at no body's expense, upon what the last gleaners have left behind, is well described in the following lines:

Now mark

The fowler, as he stands and meditates
The cruel deed! See how, with steady g.asp
He holds the thund'ring messenger of death;
His eye fix'd,—levell❜d on the fatal tube ;
His forward leg —Amidst the bristling corn
His dog, as if by skilful Flaxman cut

In Parian stone, or cast in lasting bronze

By far-fam'd Westmacott, stands forth unmov'd,
Ready to give the deadly signal.—Hark!

'Tis done-shot through the heart, she reels, she falls,
Far from her best; whilst th' unsuspecting mate

Still leads the flutt'ring covey through the field.