QtUIL. 179 



thick and warm down which grows at the roots of their 

 feathers. 



Quail. These are birds of passage, and are, occasion- 

 ally, found in nearly all quarters of the world. So nume* 

 rous are they in some parts of Italy, that, in the kingdom 

 of Naples, more than 100,000 of them are said to have 

 been caught in the course of one day, and within the space 

 of three or four miles. Great quantities of Quails are, in 

 peaceable times, annually imported from France. They 

 are conveyed by stage-coaches, in large square boxes, 

 divided into compartments, and formed for the purpose. 

 The males are courageous and quarrelsome, and were 

 formerly kept by the Athenians, as they now are by the 

 Chinese, for the purpose of fighting. The bodies of these 

 birds are so remarkably hot, that the Chinese hold them in 

 their hands in cold weather, for the purpose of keeping 

 themselves warm. The time of their migration from this 

 country is August or September. They are supposed to 

 pass the winter in Africa, and they return early in the 

 spring. Like the partridge, they form their nest upon the 

 ground, and lay from six to ten eggs, which are whitish, 

 but marked with ragged rust-coloured spots. 



The Quail is considerably smaller than the partridge, 

 but has a near resemblance to that bird. Its plumage is 

 greyish and spotted. The eye-brows are white ; and the 

 margin of the tail-feathers, and a crescent-shaped spot on 

 them, are rust-coloured. These birds have four toes to 

 each foot, but no spur. 



