The Quail and M.S. 261 



" quaglia," in German " wachtel," and in Danish 

 " kwakkel." To my mind, the suggestion that the 

 origin of these names is onomatopseic, like "cuckoo," 

 "curlew," "peewit," &c, is not worth serious con- 

 sideration. Nor is its cry so querulous as to suggest 

 that " quail" comes from the Anglo-Saxon " cwelan " 

 or Danish " quelen," meaning to lose heart or give way 

 before difficulty or danger. Although of most retiring 

 habits during the breeding season, our partridge in 

 miniature is a strong-winged migrant, with plenty of fat 

 to subsist upon during privation, and a hot-blooded 

 gamester ready to fight a round or two with any other 

 quail who interferes with his wooing. In the corn crops 

 he is an artful dodger, and only " quails " at the sound 

 of an unexpected footstep which denotes the nearness, 

 say, of some crack shot. 



Our stock of information about Coturnix communis is 

 rather meagre. We know him as a summer visitant from 

 the arid parts of Africa, from the far Soudan, and the 

 hinterland of Algeria. In Palestine enormous flocks of 

 migrants arrive during March and April nights, and 

 literally blacken — or brown — over the land, these being 

 the same species which were brought to the camp of the 

 Israelites. Long ago the common quail was dedicated to 

 the Egyptian goddess of fertility, Astarte. He is known 

 in India, China, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, and 

 Denmark, often in such vast numbers as to defy calcula- 

 tion. Millions and millions again cross the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea. They are netted wholesale in many coun- 

 tries on their spring migration from Africa, the first great 

 catches being male birds, which the experts take easily 

 by simulating the call of the females. 



Some of the Central European Powers have at different 

 times intervened to protect quails during the breeding 

 season. Great numbers are, however, still shipped from 

 France, from Mediterranean and Adriatic ports, and even 

 from the Grecian Archipelago, in defiance of a statute 

 which penalises any person found in possession of live 

 birds scheduled for protection during the breeding season. 

 Only in July, last year, I saw a report in the newspapers 



