TILE QUAIL. j 



SHOOTING, 



[the quail. 



CHAPTER VIL 



THE QUAIL. 



The Quail (Tefrao Coturnix, Linn.) is de- 

 scribed as being fully seven inches long. The 

 bill is dusky; the irides hazel, and, in old 

 males, yellow; the crown of the head is black, 

 transversely marked with rufous brown ; and 

 down the middle is a yellowish-white line. 

 Above the eye, in a backward direction, is 

 another line of the same colour ; and on the 

 chin and throat is a black mark, which has a 

 turn upwards towards the ears. The remaining 

 parts are white, and the hind portion ot the 

 neck is black. The scapulars and tail-coverts 

 are of a rufous-brown tint, and the middle of 

 each feather is streaked with yellowish white, 

 surrounded more or less with black. The 

 sides are of the same colour, but not having 

 quite so much of the white streaks. The breast 

 is light ferruginous brown ; shafts white ; belly 

 paler. The wing-coverts are pale rufous brown, 

 streaked like the back, but more minutely dis- 

 tributed. The quills are dusky ; the outer webs 

 more or less mottled with yellowish white. 

 The tail is dusky, tipped with white, and con- 

 sists of twelve short feathers hidden by the 

 coverts. The hen bird is distinguished by 

 having little or no black on the chin or throat, 

 and by a dusky mark passing from the ears 

 downwards. Some black spots are likewise 

 seen on the chest, and the coverts of the wings 

 are barred with yellowish-white streaks. 



The quail is very widely distributed, being 

 known almost throughout the world, with the 

 exception, it is said, of America, where it has 

 not hitherto been discovered. In the countries 

 of the European continent it is very numer- 

 ous ; much more so than in England, Wales, 

 and Scotland. It is often met with in Ireland 

 in large numbers. 



This bird has been called the dwarf partridge, 

 from its great resemblance in figure, colour, 

 and habits, to the true bird of that name. 

 •'Those birds," says Mr. Daniel, "resemble 

 i!ach other by being both pulverulent, having 

 short wings and tail, and running very swiftly ; 

 they feed, copulate, build their nests, and raise 

 552 



their young nearly in the same way. Both are 

 salacious, inordinately lustful, and the males 

 quarrelsome ; but numerous as are the Doiut's 

 of resemblance, they are more than balanced 

 by a number of disparities, which render quails 

 a distinct species ; for, omitting the peculiar 

 incident of their migration, quails are uni- 

 versally smaller ; they have not the bare space 

 between the eyes, nor the figure of the horse- 

 shoe impressed on the breast of the males, as 

 in the partridge ; the quail's eggs are smaller, 

 and of an entirely different colour; their notes 

 are unlike : the flesh of the quail is also ot a 

 different flavour, and more loaded with fat ; 

 the period of their life is shorter, for the quail 

 does not live more than five years. They are 

 less cunning than the partridge, and much 

 more easily ensnared, especially when young; 

 their dispositions are not so gentle, and it is 

 extremely rare to see them tamed. Quails 

 seldom form themselves into coveys, except 

 when their wants unite the feeble family to 

 their mother, or some powerful cause urges, 

 at once, the whole species to assemble and 

 traverse together the extent of the ocean, 

 holding their course to the same distant land : 

 but this forced association does not subsist 

 after they have alighted, and find in their 

 adopted country that they can live at will. 

 The appetite of love is the only tie, and even 

 this is momentary : so soon as passion has spent 

 its force, the male abandons his mate to the 

 labour of raising the family. The young quails 

 are hardly full-grown when they separate ; or, 

 if kept together, they fight obstinately; and 

 their quarrels are terminated only by their 

 mutual destruction." 



The quail is migratory in its habits ; and 

 though many attempts have been made to 

 naturalise it in this country, the instinctive 

 desire to migrate, has hitherto frustrated all 

 such attempts. This bird has engaged the 

 attention of the naturalist and the sportsman 

 from the earliest times. Pliny says — " Quails 

 alight in such numbers on ships (and which is 



