io8 THE COMMON QUAIL 



The Quail arrives in Britain in May and departs southwards in 

 October ; the males arrive first and greatly exceed the females in 

 number. The males assist the females in the care and upbringing 

 of the young. The nest is little else than a hole scratched in the 

 ground. From six to eight eggs of an oily green colour are deposited 

 in Britain, six to twelve, or even fourteen, being the number pre- 

 vailing on the continent. Thus a brood, called a " bevy," in 

 Britain contains six or eight quails. The food consists of herbage, 

 seeds and grains, insects and worms. The flesh is more juicy 

 and delicate than that of the partridge. The London market 

 is supplied with quails chiefly from France. Table quails are princi- 

 pally fed on hemp seed. Quails are very pugnacious, and 

 " quail fights " were indulged in by the ancient Greeks and Romans, 

 just as combats of this nature afford amusement in some parts of 

 modern Italy, the fighting quails being armed with artificial " spurs," 

 after the fashion of fighting cocks. 



FIG. 67. THE COMMON QUAIL. 



The CAPERCAILZIE, or COCK OF THE WOOD (Tetrao urogallus), 

 Fig. 68, included in the Tetraonidae, sub-familyTetraoninae, is the 

 largest species of grouse, about 2 ft. 10 in. in length, and weigh- 

 ing from 9 to 12 Ib. The female is about one-third less than the 

 male. In the male the elongated feathers of the throat are black, 

 the rest of the neck and head ashy black, the eyebrows red, the 

 iris clear brown, and the bill nearly 3 in. long, very strong, 

 hooked, and of a whitish horn colour. The wings and shoulders 

 are brown, sprinkled with small black dots ; the breast variable 

 green ; the belly black with white spots ; the rump and flanks black 

 with zigzag lines of an ashy colour ; and the tail feathers black, with 

 some white spots near the extremities. The female is striped and 

 spotted with red or bay, black and white, and has the feathers 

 of the head ruddy, those of the breast deep red, and those of the 

 tail ruddy with black stripes, 



The nest of the capercailzie is built upon the ground, and contains 



