BIRDS FOUND ON OUR SOUTHERN MANORS. 35 



so bright as that of the cock, and she has no knob in place of 

 a spur. The flesh is white, dry, and tasteless, which is also 

 another reason for the dislike which is taken to this bird by 

 game preservers. They are stronger on the wing than the 

 common partridge, and if they can be approached near 

 enough when in the air, they afford good sport; but they run 

 so far in front of the dogs before they rise, that a shot can 

 seldom be obtained. Sometimes they perch on trees or 

 hedge-rows, but this is not by any means a common habit 

 with them. If they are in very great abundance, close- 

 ranging spaniels drive them up better than pointers, which 

 latter dogs allow them to get out of shot. They make their 

 nest in the same way and in the same places as the common 

 partridge, and lay from fifteen to eighteen eggs, which are of 

 a reddish yellow white, spotted and speckled with reddish 

 brown ; in length one inch and a half by one and a quarter 

 in breadth. The young birds leave the nest directly, and 

 are reared and fed in the same way as the common 

 partridge. 



The QUAIL (Coturnix communis) is recognised by the fol- 

 lowing characters : Beak strong, shorter than the head, and 

 with the upper mandible curved ; nostrils basal, lateral, 

 half closed by an arched membrane; feet with four toes, 

 the anterior ones connected by a membrane as far as the first 

 joint; tail short, rounded, recumbent, almost hid by the tail 

 coverts. The colour is as follows in the adult male : Beak 

 brownish grey ; iris hazel ; top of the head dark brown, with 

 a pale wood-brown streak of the same colour over the crown 

 of the head to the nape of the neck ; feathers of the upper 

 parts brown, with lighter-coloured shafts, and each having 

 a longitudinal streak of wood brown ; wing primaries dusky 

 brown, mottled with light brown ; chin and throat white, 

 bounded by two half-circular dark-brown bands descending 

 from the ear coverts, and with a black patch at the bottom 

 in front ; breast pale chesnut brown, with the shafts of the 

 feathers straw coloured, all the under parts yellowish white ; 

 flanks streaked with pale chesnut ; legs, toes, and claws pale 

 brown. The length seven inches. The female does not 

 differ in size, but has no dark, half-circular marks down the 

 sides of her neck, nor the black patch in front ; and the 



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