QUAIL. 91 



which were those of the various species of Plantain, (Plantago,) Persicaria, Dock, (Rumex,) 

 Vetches, (Vicia,) duckweeds, (Stellaria.) The crop of one bird contained nothing but 

 the seeds of Stellaria media, and there could not have been less than three thousand five 

 hundred of them. Another crop was filled with eleven Slugs, (Limax agrestis.) To these 

 may be added grain in small quantities; green food such as blades of grass, and other 

 succulent plants. The seeds of the Keed, (Arunclo Phragmitis,) of the Rushes, (Juncus,) 

 of the Spreading Halberd-leaved Orache, (Atriplex patula;) together with numerous insects 

 in the summer and autumn months. The gizzard also always contains small stones, which 

 assist in grinding up the food. The above list will amply prove that the Quail does 

 much good to the farmer, by destroying noxious weeds and insects. 



In sporting parlance, a family of Quails is called a bevy ; in putting them up you are 

 said to flush or raise them: when at rest they are said to be piped. In speaking of 

 numbers you say a brace or a brace and a half. 



Pairing takes place in the spring, the time will of course be dependant, in some measure, 

 upon whether the birds have wintered here or only arrived in May. The Rev. R. A. Julian, 

 in "The Naturalist," for January 1852, states that he was informed by a friend that he 

 had seen a Quail's nest near Ely, containing many eggs, on the 26th. of September, 

 1851 ; when he found it the old female was on the nest. This was certainly very late 

 for the nesting of this bird, but it is possible the explanation may be that the first nest 

 had been taken or otherwise destroyed, which will sometimes induce birds to incubate a 

 second time. 



The nest is simply a slight hollow scraped by the bird in the earth, with a few dried 

 blades of grass or leaves in it. Here the eggs are deposited, from ten to twenty in 

 number; in colour they differ greatly from those of the Partridge; — having the ground 

 reddish yellow, or yellowish white, or greenish, marked all over with spots and blotches 

 of umber brown. In length they measure one inch and one line; in breadth eleven lines. 

 The time of incubation is said to be eighteen days, and is generally completed by the 

 middle or third week in July. The young run as soon as they are out of the shell, and 

 their food is the same as that of young Partridges. 



We have never heard of Quails breeding in confinement, but they are readily tamed, 

 and are kept caged in Holland and Germany as song birds, their plaintive, monotonous 

 note being much admired in those countries. Meyer says that a person had a "Quail, 

 which had the liberty of running about his study; and in the same room a favourite 

 setter dog was allowed entrance : by degrees the two animals became accpiainted, and the 

 Quail might frequently be seen to lie on the rug near the dog, enjoying with him the 

 warmth of the fire." 



The adult male has the bill a gray brown above, and a gray blue below. Irides, 

 hazel. From the forehead to the nape is a narrow streak of yellowish white, having on 



