476 THE QUAIL. 



for instance, he follows with great violence, and often pulls out 

 their feathers so much, as to leave them almost bare. 



Food. In a wild state, the Quail eats all kinds of seed and 

 grain ; for example, wheat, millet, rape, hemp and poppy seeds. 

 It feeds also on green plants and insects ; and is very fond of 

 ants' eggs. In confinement it may be fed with wheat, millet, 

 hemp and poppy seed, bread, barley meal and milk, or the 

 universal paste : and in some cases has been preserved in health 

 for a long time on chopped cabbage and lettuce. It requires a 

 plentiful supply of wet sand, partly for rolling in, and partly to 

 aid in the process of digestion. It will not roll itself in dry 

 sand ; and is fond of drinking, though the water should not, 

 as some assert, be muddy. The Quail moults twice a year, 

 namely in spring and autumn, and requires at those seasons an 

 abundance of good food, and a large supply of river sand. 



Breeding. The only nest formed by the Quail, is a hole 

 scratched in the ground, and lined with a fewstraws.or grass stalks. 

 The female does not lay her eggs, which are ten to fourteen in 

 number, and bluish white with large brown spots, till late in the 

 year, often not till July ; the brood is hatched in three weeks, 

 and the young birds run about with their mother before they are 

 fledged ; though this takes place before the autumn migration. 

 The males are exceedingly ardent ; and when one is suddenly 

 brought into a room where there is a female, he immediately 

 pursues her, and will almost strip her of her feathers if she do 

 not at once yield to his desires. This heat is not so manifest if 

 a pair be kept in a room together throughout the year. I know 

 a bird-fancier who from two females and one male, annually rears 

 a considerable number of young Quails. As soon as the male 

 has paired with both females, and they begin to lay, he is shut 

 up in a cage by himself; the females hatch their eggs, and rear 

 the young birds, which, if put under good instructions, often be- 

 come excellent singers. 



The young Quails, which have been bred in the fields, may 

 either be committed to the care of a tame female, who will rear 

 them as if they were her own, or may be fed with hard-boiled 

 egg chopped small, millet, and wheat. It is the best plan, if 

 possible, to take the mother with the brood, which may be fre- 

 quently accomplished by a clap net. Before the first moulting, 

 the young males are scarcely distinguishable from the females ; 

 though afterwards characterized by the brown throat. 



Mode of Talcing. From the many methods of catching thia 

 bird which are in use, I shall select only the easiest and most 

 usual. The males are generally decoyed into a net by means of 

 a Quail call, which imitates the cry of the female at pairing 

 time, Peupeu, Peupeu. This plan is very successful during the 



