Mr. W. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 255 



says, with respect to England, and probably alluding chiefly 

 to the south, where he resided, that these birds are " in much 

 less quantity than formerly/^ Mr. Selby in 1825 remarks, 

 that '^ they now visit us in much fewer numbers than they 

 formerly did, and their appearance in the midland and north- 

 ern counties of England has of late years been a rare occur- 

 rence/^ In 18375 Mr. MacgilHvray observes — "it is seldom 

 that they are now met with in Scotland/' It may appear 

 singular, yet true it is, that all this while they have been in- 

 creasing throughout Ireland*; and that of late years there 

 has been a decided augmentation in the quantity remaining 

 during winter. 



In the wheat districts around Belfast, quails were always com- 

 mon, but in a locality well known to me, stretching towards the 

 mountain base, where oats were always grown in quantity, they did 

 not appear until the introduction of wheat ; but, though this grain 

 has almost ceased to be cultivated there, the birds continue in the 

 district. J. V. Stewart, Esq., in a letter dated Rockhill, Letterkenny, 

 Feb. 3, 1837, remarks, that "quails are only found in the most 

 improved lowland parts of the county of Donegal ; and where some 

 years since they were very rare, are now becoming annually much 

 more common. This is to be accounted for by the increased growth 

 of wheat." In the year 1837, I learned from the late T. F. Nehgan, 

 Esq. of Tralee, that " within the preceding eight or ten years the 

 quail had become much more common in the county of Kerry, 

 within which period cultivation had much extended." 



Thus, in keeping pace with the cultivation of grain in the north- 

 west and south-west extremities of this island, it may appear extra- 

 ordinary that the numbers of these birds visiting Great Britain 

 should have so diminished in the present century, when cultivation 

 has been so vastly improved. But the higher state of cultivation is 

 one thing, and the introduction of grain-crops into districts in which 

 they were before unknown is another ; and though it may appear 

 strange, yet I am disposed to believe that the slovenly system of 

 farming in Ireland, unfortunately too general, is one source of the 

 quails' attraction to the country, as, at all seasons, the weeds among 

 the stubble supply these birds with abundance of food. 

 . With respect to the quails' continuance during winter in numbers 

 throughout Ireland, to the extreme north, I gave some details in 

 the 4th volume of the 'Annals' (p. 284), the purport of which 

 was, that for many years past they have been daily, during winter, 



* The following extract from * A Brife Description of Ireland made in 

 this yeere 1589, by Robert Payne,' shows that quails were common at that 

 period. " There be great store of wild swannes, cranes, phesantes, par- 

 triges, heathcocks, plouers, greene and gray, curlewes, woodcockes, rayies, 

 quailes, and all other fowles much more pientifull than in England. You 

 may buy a dosen of quailes for iii.d., a dosen of woodcockes for iiii.d., and 

 all other fowles ratablie." — Reprinted in Tracts relating to Ireland, printed 

 for the Irish Archaeological Society : Dublin, 1811. 



