MORE ABOUT GAME-BIRDS. 125 



but that ceaseless scrape and rattle, rattle and 

 scrape, together with their piping, sounded far too 

 much like a small tin canister with peas in it shaken 

 at intervals by some small boy, to the accompaniment 

 of a battered penny whistle, to appear at all attrac- 

 tive. Had I not seen them thus employed, I should 

 certainly have bought them, and just as certainly 

 have very soon granted them their liberty again. 



All creatures, and especially man, endeavour to 

 profit by the quail's migrations. Reaching us in 

 England from foreign countries, they are fattened 

 up for the table, in fact for the quail season ; and 

 they become exposed for sale in vast quantities. 

 But it is not all of the smart little fellows which 

 succeed in reaching the land. They drop on the 

 water in thousands, as the sharks know who swal- 

 low them : these gorge themselves in fact, up to 

 their gullets, on quails. So well is this known 

 that when the smaller species of that fish are cap- 

 tured by fishermen, the shark-larders are opened 

 very unceremoniously, in quest of the birds they 

 are pretty sure to find there. 



In spite of his many good points, the capercailzie 



