1920.] Birds of the Canary Islands. 129 



Coturnix coturnix coturnix. Migratory Quail. 



Tetrao coturnix Linn. Syst. Nat. lOtli ed. 1758, p. 161 — 

 Type locality : Sweden. 



The Migratory Quail is, as its English name implies, a 

 Bird of Passage in large numbers. It is also a Summer Visitor 

 and may prove to be a Partial Resident. Unfortunately it 

 has been so confused with the Resident Quail that it is very 

 difficult to arrive at the exact status which it has in the 

 islands. 



The Quail has long been known as a very plentiful species 

 in the Canary Islands. Bethencourt speaks of " a marvellous 

 number of Quail " and it is mentioned l)y Ledru in 1810 

 (vol. i. p. 181) from Tenerife. The older writer.-;* did not, 

 however, realise there are two races of the Quail in the Archi- 

 pelago, the migratory and an island form which until recently 

 has been confused with the African Quail, and their accounts 

 therefore do not always agree. The island race has recently 

 been named by Hartert C. c. conjisa (Nov. Zool. xxiv. 1917, 

 p. 423— Type locality: Madeira). 



It would appear to arrive in the Archipelago very early in 

 the spring — sometimes as soon as the end of January. 

 According to Meade-Waldo numbers arrive in February and 

 they begin to breed -then near the coast (Ibis, 1889, 

 p. 517). 



The Quail breeds in all tiie large islands apparently, and 

 according to Polatzek (Orn. Jahrb. 1909, p. 14) remains 

 longer in the western than in the eastern group. This 

 looks to me as if only the Migratory Quail was found in 

 the eastern islands, the Resident Quail (C. c. conjisa) 

 occurring only in the western islands. 



That the Migratory Quail visits Fuerteventura and Lanza- 

 rote in much larger numbers in rainy years than in dry 

 years, is shown by von Thanner, who remarks (Orn. Jahrb. 

 1912, p. 221) when he visited li'uerteventura in the spring 

 of 1912: ^' after the abundant rain Quails (' Wachteln ') 



* Meade-Waldo seems to Lave been the first ornithologist to realise 

 tliat there were two races of the Quail in the Canary Islands (Ibis, 1889, 

 p. r,i7). 



SKK. XI. VOL, II, li 



