94 Birds I Have Kept. 



by the word pievervie, uttered in a bold tone, with the neck 

 raised, the eyes shut, and the head inclined to one side. 

 Those that repeat the last syllable ten or twelve times are 

 the most admired. The song of the female only consists of 

 the words 'verra, verra, pupu, pupu' , the two last syllables 

 being those by which the male and the female attract each 

 other's attention: when alarmed or angry, their cry resembles 

 'guillah,.'" but at other times it is only a murmur, resembling 

 the purring of a cat." 



Quails are found in all parts of the world, and differ little 

 from one another in size or plumage, with the exception of 

 the Californian, which has a tuft on the top of its head. 

 I have never kept any of the foreign varieties. In Australia 

 Quails are very abundant; they are rather smaller than those 

 which frequent these islands, and of a paler colour, and I 

 have frequently obtained a number of them, by the device 

 of sending a dog into a field of standing com frequented by 

 these birds, which, terrified by the intrusion into their peaceful 

 haunts, would dash themselves blindly against the wire fence 

 surrounding the field, and with such violence that they often 

 killed themselves by fracturing their neck or breastbone. These 

 birds are also frequently kUled by flying, during the migratory 

 season, against telegraph wires, and the lanterns of lighthouses. 

 The reason of this apparent stupidity on the part of an other- 

 wise intelligent bird is that their eyes are placed so far back 

 in the head that they cannot see anything that is directly 

 in front of them without turning the head, so that when 

 frightened, or in a hurry, they are apt to come with the 

 full force of their extremely powerful flight against any and 

 every obstacle that lies in their way. 



This chapter would scarcely be complete without some 

 reference to the enormous flights of these birds that served 

 to feed the wandering Israelites in the desert of Sinai, where, 

 even in the present day, they are met with in large flocks 

 during their passage from Africa to a milder climate for the 



