18 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
migration may be gathered from Canon Tris- 
tram’s statement that in Algeria, in April, he 
found the ground covered with quails for an 
extent of many acres at daybreak, where on the 
preceding afternoon not one was to be seen. 
These are the birds which were so eagerly seized 
by the Israelites as a welcome change in the diet 
which had become so monotonous in the days 
of their early wanderings. The story, so vividly 
told in the Book of Exodus, is, of course, 
familiar to all. 
The quail lays from nine to fifteen eggs 
in a feeble apology for a nest. It is said that 
the curious metallic note ‘‘clic-lic-lic” gave 
origin to the Spanish castanet, for these birds 
are much esteemed in Spain, being kept in 
cages for the pleasure their notes afford. 
There are five or six other species of quail 
closely related to the above. The British bird 
The wings in the typical Cochins are so short as to be useless enjoys an enormous range, being found almost 
everywhere in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The 
so-called AMERICAN QUAILS — some forty species in number— are generally regarded as 
belonging to a distinct group. 
That ornament to all rural scenery, the PHEASANT, is said to have been introduced from 
the banks of the river Phasis, in Colchis, Transcaucasia, by the Romans — at least, the original 
form of pheasant was. Late during the eighteenth century a Japanese and a Chinese form 
were introduced, and these have freely interbred with the original form, so that pure bred 
specimens of any of the three are rare. 
The speed of a pheasant on the wing in full flight has been estimated at thirty-eight 
miles an hour. Occasionally pheasants will take to the water, and are said to swim well. 
The number of pheasants reared by hand at the present day is prodigious. In 1883, 
Professor Newton tells us, 134,000 pheasants’ 
eggs were sold from one estate in Norfolk, while 
9,700 fully grown birds were killed upon it. In 
olden times pheasants were taken in snares or 
nets, by hawking, and by the cross-bow; but on 
the introduction of guns these methods were 
superseded. 
Yet another form of pheasant has been in- 
troduced here of late years. This is REEVES’S 
PHEASANT, a truly magnificent bird, with a tail 
fully 5 feet long in adult males. These birds 
also interbreed with the more common forms, 
but not freely. 
Beautiful as these pheasants undoubtedly 
are, they are eclipsed by many of their relatives. 
Among the most noteworthy of these we may 
notice the magnificent TRAGOPANS. Rich in 
coloration of the feathers, these birds have Photo by C. Reid] at ae - CWishaw, NB. 
added an additional feature in brilliantly coloured BROWN LEGHORN COCK 
areas of bare skin on the head and neck, which ts ' 
¥o om : : This breed has been derived by crossing White Leghorns with 
are furthermore rendered conspicuous by being Game-fow! 
2h 
Photo by C. Reid] [Wishaw, N.B. 
RED COCHINS 
