THE QUAIL 93 



themselves by feeding on the ripe grapes. During the 

 winter and the early spring they feed on the seeds of 

 the plantain, dock, vetch, and chickweed. Slugs also 

 and insects help to form the bird's diet. The Italian's 

 notion that it is unwholesome to eat Quails at a given 

 season arises, no doubt, from the fact that it is pleasanter 

 eating and the flesh is plumper at certain times of the 

 year than at others, owing largely to the varying nature 

 of the bird's food. 



The Quail is a favourite pet in Spain ; the birds are 

 kept much in cages there, and are valued because of 

 their song ; and that the Quails have been taken on the 

 Continent in vast numbers when netting them, at the 

 time of the vernal migration, is not to be denied. 

 " We remember," says Lord Lilford, " seeing a steamer 

 at Bressina, in the month of May, 1874, one of whose 

 officers assured us that he had six thousand pairs of 

 Quails alive on board, all destined for the London 

 market. The unhappy birds are carried in low flat 

 cages on boxes, wired only in front, and it is surprising 

 what a very small percentage of them die on the voyage, 

 unless ' a sea " happens to break over them. They 

 thrive well on millet, and soon become fat; but, in our 

 opinion, this traffic should be prohibited, as the unfor- 

 tunate birds are caught on their way to their breeding 

 quarters, and some of them at all events would afford 

 sport at a legitimate season when naturally fit for the 

 table." " Chaud comme caille," says the French 

 proverb, because Quails are exceedingly amorous and 

 pugnacious at the time of pairing. They thrive well in 

 confinement, and are easily " fatted up " for the table. 



