224 THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



Castles without a great number of fat "quayles" appearing 

 on the table. 



From a naturalist's and a sportsman's point of view, 

 it is much to be regretted that so few quail reach the 

 English and Irish shores nowadays for the purpose of 

 breeding. They have always been more abundant in 

 Ireland than in England. A very limited number are seen 

 each year in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire, but 

 rarely further north. Though preferring sandy ground 

 where rye is grown, and disdaining damp clay soils, the 

 quail has yet been reported as breeding some years since 

 in the vicinity of Yorkshire's busiest towns. A pair was 

 seen in the vicarage gardens at Danby-in-Cleveland in 

 Canon Atkinson's time. A nest containing eleven eggs 

 was found on a railway embankment in East Yorkshire in 

 July, 1870. More recently a few have been seen in 

 Holderness. 



