382 C ACTIVE QUAILS. [CHAf.x, 



pelago of the Levant, have, since the epoch of the 

 Exodus, been saved by the sudden flight of birds wafted 

 to their isle by some propitiously-shifting wind, and 

 have felt with thankful hearts that He who feeds the 

 Ravens has fed them ! In the case of the Israelites 

 we are referred to a miracle. Miracles we are told have 

 ceased. But a miracle cannot, to the minds of common- 

 sense people, be very clearly distinguished from the 

 action of a particular Providence, a series of ever- 

 working miracles. That the superintendence of a par- 

 ticular Providence has not yet been withdrawn from us, 

 working out good from evil, strength from weakness, 

 those feel most assured whose frail bark has been driven 

 through stormy waters, whether metaphorically, in the 

 pelting, crushing, sometimes foundering, troubles of life, 

 or literally, in the tempestuous seas, where there was 

 little but the compass, and a firm trust and faith, to 

 prevent all heart and courage from giving way. The 

 flight of Quails, and like unlooked-for aids, have been 

 the inspiring accompaniments on more than one Exodus 

 from heartbreaking sorrow and oppression. 



Quails in captivity are of far inferior interest to what 

 they claim in a state of nature. A few solitary indivi- 

 duals are kept as cage birds, but more frequently on the 

 Continent than here, for the sake of their song, or call. 

 But they fail to excite much personal favour towards 

 themselves. We have had them more than a twelve- 

 month under our eye, without being able to call forth 

 any signs of attachment to ourselves ; they only become 

 a little less wild, but will still either squat, or flutter, if 

 suddenly intruded upon too closely. Few aviaries are, 

 or ought to be without them, for the sake of their his- 

 torical associations ; but in those places they are more 



