526 Lieut. J. N. Kennedy 07i [Ibis, 



341. (248) Cotiirnix coturnix coturnix (L.). The Quail. 



Local name ; Summiena. 



Though still common, this species is by no means so 

 abundant as it used to be. It occurs on passage during both 

 seasons. Some of those which arrive in autumn generally 

 pass the winter with us. Schembri says that the Quail 

 breeds here in May, and Wright says that it breeds in 

 March. I have seen eggs as early as the first days of the 

 latter month, and have met with others still unhatched 

 in June. 



XXVII. — Birds in the Ancre Valley during the Winter 

 of 1916-1917. By Lieutenant J. N. Kennedy, M.C, 

 R.G.A., F.R.G.S., M.B O.U. 



(Text-figure 4.) 



The river Ancre is a tributary of the Somme, rising in the 

 Bapaume plateau and finding its way down the southern 

 slopes of the watershed through a long irregular valley, the 

 general trend of which is south-west and south. The chalk 

 country which it drains is of a gently undulating and open 

 nature with few high hills, and rises but seldom more than 

 500 feet above sea-level. Above Miraumont the Ancre is 

 little more than a ditch which is usually dry except after 

 heavy rain. Below this village it enters a deeper valley 

 and, flowing between the Puisieux and Courcelette ridges, it 

 increases rapidly in volume. Below Grandcourt there is on 

 either bank a belt of marshy ground which widens consider- 

 ably between St. Pierre Divion and Aveluy, and there are 

 here stretches of deep open water and extensive reed-beds 

 interspersed with trees. 



It was in this marshy tract that birds were most 

 numerous, in spite of the fact that it received many of the 

 shells intended for neighbouring roads. We were able to 

 explore it in a punt constructed by stretching a canvas 

 trench-cover over a rough wooden frame. 



As I have already mentioned, the country in general is of 



