QUAIL. 231 



another on the 30fch., at March; and another on the 31st., 

 captured near Gruyhirn. 



In Bedfordshire, one in February, 1833; in Shropshire, one 

 at Shiffnal, on the 20th. of January, 1846. In Norfolk, at 

 Reedham on the llth.; at Bawburgh on the 14th.; near 

 Loddon, a pair, male and female, on the 19th.; one near 

 Norwich, on the 23rd. of December, 1846; and another in 

 the following month, January, 1847. On the 26th. of August, 

 1848, a hen bird and a young one were captured at Drayton. 

 Two were killed at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, on the llth. 

 of November, 1825; and one at Topham, in the end of 

 January. One at Normanby-by-Spital, Lincolnshire, by the 

 Rev. Edward Cooper, B.A., on the 1st. of February, 1853. 

 Two in Oxfordshire, followed by two others on the 10th. of 

 November, 1846, and the 9th. of December, 1848. In De- 

 cember, in Oxfordshire, near Spoden; and on the 12th. of 

 February, 1840, at East Ilsley, in Berkshire, and they have 

 also been seen in that county in the winter not far from 

 Wallingford, William He wet, Esq. tells me. The Rev. 

 Frederic Fane writes me word of others killed in December 

 and January, in Hampshire and Dorsetshire; another also in 

 that county at Brickland, near Weymouth, the last week in 

 January, 1853. 



The males have desperate encounters with each other in the 

 spring. These birds are very delicate eating, and the demand 

 in consequence keeps pace with the large supply. They are 

 easily kept in confinement, and as easily fattened. They are 

 captured in nets and traps, into which latter they are decoyed 

 r by imitating their note, and are also shot in numbers. 



They run with great rapidity, and can take long flights, 

 as proved by their migration, but while here they are difficult 

 to put up a second time after they have been once flushed. 

 They fly quick, straight, and low, rising suddenly and uttering 

 a scream. 



They feed on grain, seeds, green leaves, and insects. 



Their voice is a shrill whistling note, a 'whit, whit,' usually 

 repeated three times in succession, and considered on the 

 continent as a sort of song. It is often and incessantly re- 

 peated nearly the whole of the day in the spring season, but 

 especially towards the evening. When fighting with one 

 another they utter a sort of croak. Bechstein likens the 

 note of the male to 'verra, verra,' followed by the word 

 'pievervie;' that of the female by 'verra, verra, pupu, pupu,' 



