APRIL 105 



They are taken at two seasons in March and April, when 

 they arrive at the Mediterranean on their northern 

 passage; and again in September, when passing, with 

 their young, to winter quarters. They are placed in long, 

 low, narrow cages, darkened to prevent fighting among 

 the prisoners, which are packed so close that they can 

 scarcely move. The rate of mortality among the cap- 

 tives is very low, which is the more remarkable because 

 a very small percentage of song-birds survive capture and 

 transit. On arriving at their destination, the quails, still 

 closely confined, are fed with hemp and millet to the 

 requisite degree of obesity for the table of Dives. Person- 

 ally, I think indifferently of the flesh as a delicacy, and 

 can sympathise with the children of Israel, who murmured 

 at having to eat quail three times a day ; for, be it noted, 

 the lean quails of the desert were very different to the 

 succulent titbits we are accustomed to meet with at feasts, 

 and the Israelites were not permitted to make them more 

 toothsome by rolling them in slices of fat bacon, as 

 modern cooks have learnt to do. 



The triple note of the male bird has earned for the 

 quail many quaint names in various languages. Among 

 the southern English it is known as ' Wet-my-lips ' ; 

 Germans call it Buck den ruck (' Bend your back ') ; and 

 in Heligoland the call is imitated by the phrase Mick de 

 bux (' Mend your breeches '). 



Not inferior in mystery to the migratory powers of 

 quail are those of the landrail or corncrake. Like the 

 quail, its winter quarters are in Africa ; but its summer 

 range is far wider, covering nearly the whole of Europe, 

 reaching far north in Central Asia, and even extending 

 occasionally to such remote limits as Greenland and 



