226 THE QUAIL 



and the dwarf prickly genista. It delights, too, in bushy ra^'incs, 

 or the steep sides of rocky hills covered with hoUy, thorns, and 

 brambles ; and when it resorts to vineyards, it selects those situated 

 on the sides of steep slopes, where marigolds and coltsfoot are the 

 principal weeds, rabbits and vipers the most abundant animals.' ^ 

 Red Partridges are consequently most numerous in the least culti- 

 vated districts of France, especially those between the Cher and the 

 Loire, and between the Loire and the Seine. Towards the east they 

 do not extend beyond the hills of Epernay, and do not cross the 

 valley of the Meuse. The flesh of the Red Partridge is considered 

 inferior to that of the Grey, and the bird itself is less esteemed by 

 sportsmen as an object of pursuit. In England it seems to retain 

 its natural taste of preferring bushy heaths to inclosed land. In 

 the mode of incubation and rearing the young the two species are 

 much alike. 



THE QUAIL. 



COTURNIX COMMUNIS 



' This species ', says a French naturalist, ' is probably the most 

 productive of aU winged creatures ; and it could not weU be other- 

 wise, or it would be unable to withstand the war of extermination 

 declared against it by human beings and birds of prey. One may 

 get an idea of the prodigious number of victims which the simple 

 crossing of the Mediterranean costs the species by two well-known 

 and often quoted facts. The Bishop of Capri, a wretched islet 

 scarcely a league in length, which lies at the entrance of the Bay 

 of Naples, used to clear a net revenue of 25,000 francs a year (;^i,ooo) 

 by his Quails. This sum represents 160,000 Quails at the lowest 

 computation. In certain islands of the Archipelago, and parts of 

 the coast of the Peloponnese, the inhabitants, men and women, 

 have no other occupation during two months of the year than that 

 of collecting the Quails which are showered on them from heaven, 

 picking and cleaning them, salting them (' they spread them all 

 abroad for themselves ') and packing them away in casks for trans- 

 portation to the principal markets of the Levant ; that is to say, 

 the migration of Quails is to this part of Greece what the migration 

 of herrings is to HoUand and Scotland. The QuaU-catchers arrive 

 at the shore a fortnight in advance, and every man numbers his 

 ground to avoid disputes. The Quail arrives in France from Africa 

 early in May, and takes its departure towards the end of August.' 

 Another French author says, ' Like Rails, Woodcocks, Snipes, and 

 many of the waders, the Quail, when it travels towards the seashore, 

 flies only in the night. It leaves the lands, where it has passed the 

 day, about the dusk of the evening, and settles again with the dawn 



1 Toussencl. 



