COMMON QUAIL — ANDALUSIAN HEMIPODE. 135 



the 2nd February, 1888. A late Quail's nest, containing 

 nine slig-htly addled eggs, was found at Deddington in the 

 first week of September, 1888. 



That the Quail was formerly well known in this county is 

 shown by the fact that it is locally called, both in North Oxon 

 and on Otmoor, by the onomatopoetic name of ' Twit-me- 

 dick ' ; but in the curious call-note the stress is laid on the 

 first syllable, which is uttered slowly, the last two syllables 

 following quickly after a slight pause. ' Twit-middick ' would 

 therefore express the somid better. 



THE ANDALUSIAN HEMIPODE. 



Titniix sylvatica. 



The Andalusian Hemipode is an accidental visitor. In the 

 Annals of Natural History (vol. xiv, p. 459), appeared the 

 following letter, addressed to the editors : — 



Gentlemen, — • 



I have recently received a bird which appears to me to be new 

 to this country ; it is a Quail, having no back toe, and is not mentioned, 

 I believe, in any work on British Ornithology to which I have access ; 

 but in Dr. Latham's 'General History' it is described as the Perdix 

 Gibraltarica, with which my specimen appears to agree. The bird 

 was shot by the gamekeeper on the Cornwell estate in this county, 

 about three miles from hence, and has been kindly presented to me. 

 It was found in a field of barley, of which grain, by-the-bye, hundreds 

 of acres are still standing, with no prospect of being harvested in a 

 proper state. Before I proceeded to preserve the bird I took the 

 measure of its various parts, the colour of its eyes, bill, and feet, its 

 weight, etc., after which I found its description in the work before 

 alluded to. It was shot on the 29th of October last, since which time 

 another has been killed near the same spot by the same person, but 

 its head was shot off, and otherwise so mutilated as to be unfit for pre- 

 servation : this might probably complete the pair, mine being the male 

 bird. It had in its gizzard two or three husks of barley, several small 

 seeds similar to charlock, some particles of gravel, and was very fat. 

 It was considerably injured by the shot, but I have set it up in the 

 best manner I could, and consider it a valuable addition to my small 



