COMMON QUAIL 261 



tliroat is always all white, but the breast is marked with short 

 blackish streaks as in a lark, and the general tone below is paler 

 and not so buffy, more of a cream-colour. The largest quail of 

 this species are hens, but many cocks are as big as most of their 

 mates ; the weight ranges from 3''2 ounces to 4"62 ounces — a big 

 variation for so small a bird, but a good deal has to be allowed 

 for condition, the quail being a bird which under favourable cir- 

 cumstances gets very fat. Nothing need be said about its value 

 for the table, since it has been esteemed in this capacity for untold 

 ages, and therefore persecuted by man longer and more thoroughly 

 than any other species of bird whatever. Nevertheless, it is still 

 exceedingly common almost throughout the north temperate 

 parts of the Old World, and in India, which is one of its great 

 wintering-places, is the most abundant of all game birds during 

 the winter months, though its numbers vary much in different 

 years, and also the wideness of its distribution. A few — a very, 

 very few — remain to breed here, but nearly all normally leave 

 us by the end of April. 



It is, indeed, essentially a long-distance migrant, the only 

 one of its family ; indeed, most of them, whether pheasants, 

 partridges or other quails, are considered good fliers of their 

 kind if they go ordinarily a mile without alighting, while this 

 little quail crosses both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, 

 though often absolutely worn out by a long passage. There is 

 a great loss of life during migration owing to the powers of flight 

 of the birds being barely sufficient for such long journeys, and 

 evidently thousands of years of evolution have failed to com- 

 pletely adapt this bird to habits so unlike those of its kin. 

 The difference in flying power would never be appreciated by 

 observers of the ordinary habits of the quail, for when flushed 

 in the fields it seldom flies a quarter of a mile, or rises more than 

 a yard or two from the ground ; its flight is very straight and 

 steady, and performed by a continuous quick beat of the wings. 

 Although swift, it is not a difficult bird to shoot, and where it is 

 common may be shot in enormous numbers ; bags of a hundred 

 brace in a day are mentioned by Hume, and yet the birds are not 

 at all gregarious, but get up and fly singly, though when on the 

 move they do travel en masse. When migrating they travel at 



