FOR CAGES AND AVIARIES. 159 



THE QUAIL. 



Quails are birds of passage, arriving in April or May, 

 and taking their departure at the end of August or the 

 beginning of September. They are polygamous and are now 

 much scarcer in the British Isles than they were some 

 years ago; vast numbers of them are imported from the 

 Continent and fattened here for the table. 



If kept in an aviary one wing should be clipped, or if 

 in a cage, this should have a canvas top, or the Quails 

 will promptly scalp themselves by jumping up and bang- 

 ing their heads against the roof. 



They frequent cultivated ground and live on seeds and 

 insects. The males are very quarrelsome; in China they 

 are trained for fighting as game-cocks and they used to 

 be in this country not so many years ago. 



The eggs are yellowish-white spotted with brown; they 

 are not laid till June, but the young fledge rapidly, and 

 are quite ready to accompany their parents when the latter 

 take their departure for the south in the early autumn. 



Occasionally these birds will breed in confinement, and 

 the tiny chicks are exceedingly pretty and interesting. 

 With a plentiful supply of ants' eggs and maggots they 

 are not difficult to rear. 



THE QUEEST. See Ringdove (under Doves), 



THE RAILS. 



The Landrail, or Corn Crake. 



Not unlike the Water-Rail in size and appearance, but 

 very dissimilar in its habits, for instead of frequenting 

 moist places, it is found in the driest. In this country it 

 is migratory, arriving in spring from no one seems to 

 know exactly where, and taking its departure in the early 

 autumn. It frequents meadows and cornfields and many 



