THE COMMON QUAIL. 293 



end, and the bottom filled with a piece of woo d an inch and a half in 

 length, and rings composed of thick leather, the diameter of the interior 

 opening not exceeding an inch and a half, are pushed into the sewed 

 cylinder, and kept ahout a quarter of an inch apart ; the whole may after, 

 wards be pressed close together, making the rings touch each other ; then 

 a tube made of the bone of a goose or hare, and filled at the end like a 

 common whistle, is fastened to the part of the cylinder left unsewed ; the 

 interior is then stopped with wax near the notch on the side of the leather, 

 and a hole pierced through it with a knitting-needle ; the upper part of 

 the tube must also be stopped with wax, and lastly, the lower part, which 

 is thus become a kind of whistle, is very firmly tied to the unsewn part of 

 the cylinder. When the call is to be used, the lower end must be held 

 firmly in one hand, and the leather cylinder worked up and down with the 

 other, making the rings approach and separate, which produces the notes of 

 the female, " peuk, peuk, pupu." 



As soon as the male quail is heard that you wish to procure, you must 

 advance softly to within fifty paces of his station, and place the trar 

 amongst the wheat in such a position as will suffer i't to fall level with tlr 

 ground, to prevent the bird's prising under and escaping. Then retire a. 

 few steps back, when the quail will soon utter its song, to which reply 

 with two or three notes, that when the quail is silent he may only hear 

 one or two, from the call exactly resembling the cry of the female. If 

 this is not done with care, the bird will suspect treachery, and will either 

 retire or remain silent, and never after fall into such a snare ; but if 

 skilfully done, it is surprising to see how the bird proceeds directly to the 

 call : if by chance he miss the trap, he will go so near as to be within 

 reach of the hand ; in this case it is best to retire softly to the other side 

 of the trap and repeat the call, which will again attract it. There are 

 some quails that know how to avoid the net, particularly if placed in too 

 open and exposed a place. In this case it is safest to turn it in a corner 

 at both ends, and thus when it tries to turn it becomes entangled. 



It is proper to notice, that in damp weather, or when it rains, the 

 quail does not run, but flies immediately towards the call. It does this 

 also in dewy mornings and evenings ; dry days should therefore be chosen 

 for this chase. In the pairing season, two, three, or even four quails may 

 be taken at the same place. 



If no male is heard in the field, the call of the female must be well 

 imitated on a larger and more powerful bird-call, and, if any males are 

 within hearing, they will not fail to answer; the person must then 

 advance quickly, placing the net so as to stop their road, and repeat 

 the call. 



When a female is to be caught, it is best to employ a common net, 

 such as is used to take quails in autumn ; but this chase should be 

 deferred till towards the end of harvest, when most of the corn is cut, and 

 only a few pieces left standing, which serve to harbour numbers of these 

 birds. Several nets are used at once, as many as six or eight ; some of 

 them are placed across the field of corn, and the others parallel to them 

 at the extremity of the same field : this being done, the party go to the 

 opposite side and tsein f o drive the ojisils into the nets in the middle of 



