COMMON QUAIL. 259 



Mediterranean on their way to their winter quarters 

 in Africa being counted by miUions instead of by 

 thousands " — do not come over here in very great 

 numbers. They arrive in May, and though scattered 

 throughout the British Isles are most common in the 

 South, where they occasionally remain through the 

 winter. 



Once arrived they betake themselves to the fields 

 and meadows, where they remain, never rising to the 

 trees, and unwilling to take to the wing unless flushed 

 by dogs. But their whereabouts can be easily as- 

 certained by the note of the male, which is a clear 

 but not very loud whistle, three times repeated, and 

 continued with little interruption during the breeding 

 season. When flying, its movement is rapid and near 

 the ground. Its food consists of various seeds ; it 

 also feeds upon grain and insects. The flesh is con- 

 sidered a great delicacy. These birds, like Partridges, 

 are very fond of dusting themselves. Quails are ex- 

 tremely pugnacious birds, especially in the breeding 

 season, and in times gone by they were kept for 

 fighting purposes — fighting Quails affording similar 

 sport (?) to the exhibitions of fighting cocks in later 

 years. 



The Quail is easily tamed, and Meyer relates that 

 a person who kept some live birds had among others 

 a Quail which had the liberty of running about his 

 study, and in the same room a favourite setter was 

 allowed entrance ; by degrees the two animals became 

 acquainted, and the Quail might frequently be seen 

 to lie on the rug near the dog enjoying with him the 

 warmth of the fire. 



The nest of these birds is placed on the ground in 

 the centre of corn fields among the growing corn, or 



