FIESH FOOD FUENISHED BY THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 161 



August fatigued with their flight. The women in Greece 

 pluck them and gut them, cutting off their heads and 

 feet, flatten them between boards loaded with stones, 

 and afterwards pack them in jars with layers of salt. 

 They form an article of commerce, and are shipped in 

 small casks. They are eaten in winter roasted on spits, 

 or prepared in various other ways. In certain parts of 

 the Peloponessus the quail forms one of the riches of 

 the country. 



The supply of live birds to our English markets is 

 derived from Egypt, Italy, and Algeria. In Egypt, at 

 the proper season, they are so plentiful that the people 

 cannot consume, in a fresh state, the number captured, 

 and therefore salt them down for future use or dry them 

 in the sun. At the time of their migration the islands 

 and shores of the Mediterranean absolutely swarm with 

 them. Such great quantities used to be captured in the 

 Isle of Capri, near Naples, as to afford the Bishop the 

 chief part of his revenue, and he was called, in conse- 

 quence, "the Bishop of Quail." An sClmost incredible 

 number of quails is supplied to the great towns and 

 cities of the Continent. Those imported into Paris from 

 Italy alone are valued at about £50,000 annually. 

 Leadenhall Market is the great depfit for the English 

 supply, and as many as 200,000 are often brought there 

 in a month during the season. Temminck tells us that 

 hundreds of thousands arrive in Naples and Provence 

 and are so fatigued that for some days they suffer them- 

 selves to be taken by hand. 



It is almost impossible to speak too highly of the quail 

 in a gastronomic point of view, though Yarrell considers 

 it " heating food." The French proverb, " hot as a quail," 

 probably had its origin in the pugnacious temper of the 

 bird to which we have just alluded. Our opinion is, 

 that the flesh of the quail is anything but " hot," and 

 stimulating. It may lack what is considered a " gamey " 

 flavour, but it is as delicate and succulent. a morsel as 

 the most educated gourmet can desire. Wither, in his 

 Satires, says — 



M 



