COMMON QUAIL. 245 



THE COMMON QUAIL. 



COTURNIX VULGARIS. 



G-earradh-gort. 



THE Quail, which is a common bird in Ireland, is also a well-known 

 visitor to the western counties of Scotland. It breeds with us in 

 limited numbers, and in the autumn months it is a familiar bird in 

 Ayrshire, extending over the whole of the county. In many places 

 it is called weet-my-feet, on account of its call-note resembling these 

 words, and which may often be heard on dewy evenings in fields 

 of grass or stubble, where grass has been sown. I have often 

 listened to its soft chatterings on still summer nights, in situations 

 like these near Girvan, where the Quail is by no means uncommon. 

 In the adjoining county of Wigtown, quails appear to have been 

 abundant about the end of last century. * 



This bird appears to be very rare in the Long Island. There is 

 a specimen, which I have seen, in the collection of Sir James 

 Matheson, Bart., at Stornoway ; it was shot in Lewis, where, I have 

 since learned, one pair, at least, bred in 1868. When in the island 

 of North Uist in the beginning of August, 1870, Mr John Mac- 

 donald, Newton, showed me a nest of twelve eggs which had been 

 taken near his residence about ten days previously. These are now 

 in the collection of Captain Orde. On the east of Scotland it is 

 by no means so common as on the west; still it is met with in 

 nearly all the counties ranging from Berwick to Orkney. In the 

 midland counties it is sparingly distributed, but is rare in the north. 

 The nest of the species is not often found. I have procured eggs 

 from Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Wigtownshire, and Kirkcudbright- 

 shire. The nest has also been found in Mid-Lothian. Mr J. H. 

 Dunn has informed me that, on 4th October, 1851, he got eleven 

 eggs of the Quail that were found by a woman when cutting grain 

 near his house. 



Quails are sent in some numbers from Ireland to the Glasgow 

 market during the early part of spring, and appear to be readily 

 disposed of. As an article for the table, it would seem to 

 be regarded with special favour by some epicures. A recent 

 writer in "All the YearKound" thus sounds its praises: "The 



* See Old Statistical Account of the parish of Buittle. 



