72 TETRAONID./E. 



dealer in Belfast. During the following winter they were very 

 scarce, but after severe frost and snow, late in the season, some were 

 brought to market; on the 1st of Feb. 1848, 1 reckoned thirty-six 

 in that dealer's shop."* Although more quails appear to have 

 wintered in Ireland in the comparatively mild seasons of late 

 years than formerly, I have the testimony of a veteran sportsman 

 to the effect, that from his having met with them in the counties 

 of Down and Antrim every winter during the last sixty-five years, 

 he had always looked upon them as indigenous, and not as migra- 

 tory birds. Others bear witness to the same effect for half that 

 period, and have considered them (in the Island Magee, &c.) 

 to be as common in winter as in summer. 



Over the continent of Europe, including the most southern 

 portions, the quail is looked upon only as a summer visitant, 

 excepting in Portugal, where it is said to be found throughout 

 the year, and is considered more numerous in winter than in 

 summer. If this be correct, it is a highly interesting fact, in 

 connexion with the wintering of the species in Ireland. From 

 its remaining permanently in the most western part of the southern 

 portion of Continental Europe, and the most western island in a 

 considerably higher latitude, it would seem as if the influence of 

 the Atlantic Ocean were the predisposing cause, counteracting as 

 it does the severity of the winter in a twofold manner : — lessening 

 the cold of that season so much, that it can be borne by the bird, 

 and enabling it, in consequence of the comparative absence of 

 frost and snow, to procure abundance of food.f Colonel Sykes, 



* I had three of these of average size weighed, and found them to be 3-| ; 3-| 

 (rather more) ; and 3f oz. The crop of one was entirely filled with the seeds of 

 weeds which grow among grain. The seeds within this crop alone weighed one 

 ounce ; nearly -| of the weight of the whole bird. 



f The preceding remarks were made on data supplied by the Supplement to Mon- 

 tagu's Ornithological Dictionary, where it is stated, that — ■" The quail remains all 

 the year in Portugal, and we are assuredly an excellent sportsman, Captain Latham, 

 that he thinks they are more plentiful in that country in winter than in summer." 

 1 have been informed, however,' by Dr. Scouler, who spent the four winter months of 

 1844-45 in Lisbon and its vicinity, and occasionally accompanied sportsmen when 

 out shooting, that quails were never met with, nor did he see any at table or in the 

 markets. The birds killed by his companions were red-legged partridges and snipes, 

 linl not many of either species were seen. He was told that late in the spring, and 



