322 NATURAL HISTORY. 



one sportsman having shot in two days one hundred and sixty- 

 eight brace on one manor. 



The length of the bird is twelve inches and a half ; the 

 wing is short and rounded, causing the peculiar whirring 

 sound when in motion ; the third and fourth primary feathers 

 are the longest. 



COTURNIX. (Lat.) 



Commuois (Lat. common], the Quail, 



The Q,UAIL is a tolerably common little bird, visiting England 

 in the summer. Countless flocks of them are spread over 

 the whole of Southern Europe, and multitudes are taken and 

 sent to the London markets ; thirty-six thousand having been 

 purchased during one season by the London poulterers. 



Temminck states that hundreds of thousands arrive in 

 Naples and Provence, and are so fatigued that for several 

 days they suffer themselves to be taken by hand. We are 

 here reminded of the flight of Quails with which the Israelites 

 were fed, the sacred narrative even preserving the nocturnal 

 flight of these birds. " And it came to pass that at even 

 the Quails came up and covered the camp." Probably the 

 instinct to fly by night is implanted in them for the purpose 

 of avoiding the birds of prey that would attack them by day. 

 The female lays from seven to twelve eggs in a rude nest on 

 the ground. 



The length of the bird is seven inches ; the second primary 

 feather is the longest. 



