408 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



The fecundity of the Quail is extraordinary : if it were other- 

 wise the species would soon be exterminated, partly from their 

 heavy, awkward flight, which renders them an easy prey to the 

 sportsman's gun, but still more from the wholesale slaughter of 

 them which takes place in certain districts at the time of migra- 

 tion. The Bishop of the island of Capri, situated in the Bay of 

 jSTai^les, receives an annual revenue of fortj' thousand francs (£1,600 

 sterling) from the duty he has imposed upon trading in Quails 

 killed on the island, which are afterwards sold in the markets of 

 Naples. From this he has received the name of the "Bishop of 

 the Quails." 



On the shores of the Bosphorus, in the Morea, Crimea, and in 

 some of the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, Quails sometimes 

 arrive in such dense masses that, according to a popular saying, it 

 is only necessary to stoop in order to pick them up. They fall 

 exhausted upon the ground, and the sky may almost be said to be 

 raining birds. The inhabitants, who Imve been watching for 

 them for many days, now net them in great numbers, and, 

 having salted them, and packed them in barrels, export them to 

 different countries. 



Quails travel principally in the evening and during the night. 

 They ascend to a tolerable height, but never fly against the wind ; 

 but, on the contrary, scud before it, and are thus carried across the 

 ^Mediterranean. The south winds bring them to us, and the north 

 winds carry them back to Africa. If overtaken by a tempest 

 during their passage, they have not power to resist it, but fall 

 into the waves. Thousands of them have been found drowned 

 around the precipitous portions of the island of Malta; their 

 strength had failed them, and, from being unable to gain sufficient 

 elevation, they found a watery grave. They also take shelter 

 occasionally on the decks of passing vessels. 



Quails principally frequent plains covered with cereals or 

 fertile pastures. They delight in rolling in the dust, and are 

 never known to perch. Their food consists of seeds and insects. 

 They are not sociable birds ; for the sexes do not approach one 

 another except in the breeding season, and parent and young 

 separate as soon as the mother's care is no longer necessary for the 

 protection of the brood. This period soon arrives, as tlae little 



