22 THE LARGER INLAND BIRDS. 



QUAIL. Several quails used to be shot in former years by the 



(Cotitrnixcommunis) ., , **> 



partridge shooters. Captain Horsfall once turned 

 down several in the sandhills, but he forgot all 

 about the quails' unfortunate habit of migrating, and 

 off they all went! 



LANDRAIL OR Common enough. Probably familiar to everyone by 

 CORNCRAKE. hig harsh crake-crake " in the fields on a quiet 

 (Gallimila crex.) 



evening. 



LITTLE CRAKE. A specimen of this bird was shot in the Formby 

 (Gallimda minuta.) wams j n the year 1875, and is now in one of 

 our cases. I remember my father telling me what 

 a fierce outcry there was when he chronicled the 

 death of this rare bird in the papers by many 

 naturalists, who protested against the so-called 

 " slaughter " of every rare visitor. All very well on 

 paper, my warm-hearted friends, but tell me would 

 you, if you were walking up snipe ground, refrain 

 from shooting at a " solitary snipe " for instance, 

 if one happened to get up in front of you, simply 

 because it is a rare bird? The outcry against the 

 so-called destruction of one rare bird is in my 

 opinion ridiculous, and when a bird of this descrip- 

 tion does happen to get slain and is reported in 

 the scientific papers, ten to one it is in far better 

 hands than many into which, if left, it might con- 

 sequently have fallen.* 



*When a bird can be properly seen and identified, I consider it a shame to shoot it; but when 

 a strange bird rises with a "whirr" in front of you when you are shooting, you usually don't pause 

 to ascertain whether it is a rarity or not before you fire. 



