A WINTER VISITOR. 109 



selection has caused him to commence his journey at the 

 time that the crops on his way are ripening, and chance 

 determines the field in which he halts for the day. 



It is well-known to sportsmen in the Himalayas that there 

 are good and bad years for quail. The difference between 

 a good and a bad year does not lie, I think, in the greater or 

 lesser quantities of migrating birds. I say this with all due 

 respect to Messrs. Hume and Marshall, who write : "in some 

 years many more quail, probably many millions more, visit 

 India than in others." No doubt the numbers of quail 

 which visit us do vary considerably from year to year. 

 This, however, does not, in my opinion, account for the 

 difference between a good and bad year in the Himalayas. 

 If the crops of any area happen to ripen at the moment of 

 maximum migration, great numbers of the passing birds 

 alight in the fields ; if the ripening of the crop does not 

 coincide with the time of the chief wave of migration, very 

 few birds come into the fields. It may be urged that this 

 explanation will, doubtless, account for the number of birds 

 seen in the hills, but what about the variations of the plains ? 

 This question may best be answered by quoting some re- 

 marks made by Mr. Davidson. : "If they (the quails) find 

 sufficient provision in Upper India and Gujarat, the major- 

 ity stay there, and comparatively few are seen in the south. 

 While in years like 1878 (when the crops were deficient in 

 the north) immense numbers come south." The quail is a 

 sensible bird. He knows when he is well off. When he 

 comes to a place where food is abundant, he refuses to 

 budge. 



I have said so much about migration that there remains 

 but little space to be devoted to our migrant the grey 

 quail. This does not matter, for the quail is one of the best 

 known of our Indian birds. Every possessor of a gun 

 knows its habits when free, and most housewives have 

 ample opportunity of studying its doings in captivity. Quail 

 feed early and late in the day, and enjoy a mid-day siesta. 



Any kind of grain and most of the smaller insects form 



