CH. VI.] LANDRAIL—QUAIL. 219 
the Moorhen, cannot reach these shores without 
crossing, at least, some twenty miles of water. 
I have heard similar strange stories of the dis- 
appearance of Dabchicks (Podiceps minor) from 
inland ponds, taking with them their young which 
had only been hatched a few days. 
The Landrail is tolerably abundant in the 
Isle of Wight, where I have indeed two or three 
times heard of their being met with in considerable 
numbers. A gentleman of my acquaintance as- 
sures me that in the year 1853 he, with the assist- 
ance of another gun, killed in one day, near 
Shanklin, nineteen and a half brace before lun- 
cheon, and another day twelve brace ; and again, 
last year, 1858, a relation of my own killed eight 
and a half brace in one field. These large bags 
were of course made early in the season, it being 
arare circumstance, as elsewhere, for even a soli- 
tary straggler to be fallen in with after the cold 
weather has set in. On the 2nd of January, how- 
ever (I think in 1848), I shot, out of a thick stub- 
ble, one of these birds in perfect condition and 
plumage. 
Quails are very scarce with us, and are becom- 
ing increasingly so. A bevy is occasionally heard 
of, but that is all. 
