got ^g 



THE EUROPEAN QUAIL. 105 ' ' 



left to run about in a light room, except during the night, but 

 continually when in a darkened cage. 



When wild, the quail is found throughout the eastern conti- 

 nent. It is a bird of passage, arriving in Europe in May, and 

 taking its departure at the end of September. 



THE EIROl'EAN QtTAlI . 



FOOD. 



IN a *vild state, the quail feeds on wheat and other corn, 

 rape seed, millet, hemp seed, and the like. It also eats green 

 vegetables, as well as insects, and particularly ants' eggs. 



In the house, it is fed on the same food, adding bread, barley 

 meal, mixed with milk, the universal paste, and occasionally 

 salad or cabbage, chopped up small, and, that it may want 

 nothing to keep it in health, plenty of river sand for it to roll 

 in and peck up grains, which assist its digestion; but this 

 sand must be damp, for if dry, it will not touch it. It drinks a 



great deal, and the water, contrary to the opinion of some 



6* 



