COMMON QUAIL. 



GALLINM. 



123 



PHASIANJDjE. 



CoTURNix COMMUNIS, Boiinaterre. '■" 

 THE COMMON QUAIL. 



Coturnix vulgaris. 



CoTURNix, Bonnatcrnf. — Beak strong, shorter than tlie head, upper man- 

 dible curved. Nostrils basal, lateral, half closed by an arched membrane. 

 Wings moderate : the first quill the longest. Tarsi, unarmed. Feet with four 

 toes, those anterior connected by a membrane as far as the first articulation. 

 Tail short, rounded, recumbent, almost hidden by the tail-coverts. 



The Quail lias generally been considered as a summer- 

 visitor to Great Britain ; but so many instances have been 

 recorded of its occurrence in England, and particularly in 

 Ireland, as well as during tlie winter months, as to make it 

 clear that a portion of them do not return southward in 

 autumn. Early in February, 1844, I saw six Quails at a 



* Tableau Encycloped. et Method., i. p. 217 (1700). f he. dt. 



