274 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



continent, chiefly in France, and brought alive to 

 this country in the spring, where they are' subse- 

 quently fatted for the table. Their flesh is deli- 

 cate, and it is, accordingly, very much in request ; 

 and in London, particularly during the season, 

 the consumption is large. 



There seems to be good reason for believing 

 that this the only migratory species of quail is 

 the identical bird alluded to by the psalmist, when 

 it pleased the Almighty to furnish an ample supply 

 of food to the famishing Israelites, in the wilder- 

 ness, Psa. Ixxviii. 26 29, "He caused an east 

 wind to blow in the heaven : and by his power he 

 brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also 

 upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as 

 the sand of the sea : and he let it fall in the midst 

 of their camp, round about their habitations. So 

 they did eat, and were well filled : for he gave 

 them their own desire." 



The history of this miraculous interposition, as 

 given in the eleventh chapter of Numbers, is 

 deeply interesting and instructive ; and the ac- 

 counts given by modern travellers fully corroborate 

 the Scriptural details as to the prodigious numbers 

 of quails, and the mode of drying them for food. 

 In Stade's " Travels in Turkey," we read " Near 

 Constantinople, in autumn, the sun is often almost 

 obscured by the prodigious flights of quails, which 



