SOLITARY AND GREGARIOUS. 43 



can. Whilst one of them is busy about this, the rest 

 are spread behind on all sides, and creep upon their 

 bellies as near to them as possible ; and when they 

 perceive that the net is laid and that the peasant is 

 ready to draw it, they quickly stand upright, raise a 

 shout and throw their sticks into the air to scare the 

 plovers. And when he who holds the net open sees 

 them approach, he lets go his cord, and encloses them 

 beneath. The peasants cast their sticks into the air, 

 to frighten the plovers and make them fly close to 

 the ground, in order that they may take them in their 

 nets; for the plovers are exceedingly quick. But if 

 the covey rise high in flight they will not take one of 

 them*." 



Authors also tell us that the quails have a king to 

 conduct their migrations ; and it is further pretended 

 that they are shrewd enough not to select for a 

 monarch one from their own body, but make choice 

 of a land-rail (Ortygometra Crex) ; for upon com- 

 ing to their place of destination, the first of the band 

 usually falls a victim to some bird of prey that is 

 waiting their arrival, and foreseeing this the quails 

 contrive to provide a victim from another species. 

 Such legends, as BufFon well remarks, by ascribing 

 incredible sagacity and design to birds, give us good 

 room to doubt whether the authors themselves pos- 

 sess any great share f- As the land-rail, however, 

 migrates about the same period with the quails, this 

 is riot quite so extravagant a notion as that recorded 

 by Aristotle, that the quails are led by an owl (Qro?) J, 

 as their king. 



M. Vaillant remarks, that the idea of these king- 

 birds seems to have originated from the casual ob- 

 servation of a strange species among a flock of gre- 



* Belon, Oyseaux, p. 261, fol. Paris, 1555. 

 t Oiseaux, Art. La Caille. % Hist. Anim. viii. 12. 



