1126 Birds. 



quails are seen near the coast of Africa, and near our coasts in the 

 spring. " Being at a small town on the coast in the month of May," 

 says M. Pellicot, in the article above quoted, " I saw some boats come 

 in with ten or a dozen sharks. They were all opened before me, and 

 there was not one which had not from eight to twelve quails in its 

 body." So many sailors have assured me of the same fact, that I can- 

 not doubt its truth ; but I wish to know if they were not borne down 

 by a violent gust of wind, and this I have never been able to ascer- 

 tain : for if it was the consequence of a squall, it is evident that whe- 

 ther they came from far or near, they would be sure to fall. Besides, 

 if they came from a distance, fatigue, added to the force of the wind, 

 would cause them to fall, which would not be so likely to happen if 

 they had not come far. I confess with sincerity that I have nothing 

 to disprove this objection, which I make myself; but I ought also to 

 add, in favour of my opinion, that the quails reassemble on our most 

 prominent capes — the Cape of Nice and the Cape of Villefranche ; 

 and if they do that to spare themselves some leagues of travel, their 

 instinct would for the same reason lead them to profit by those points 

 of rest, which the Creator has provided for them over the deep. Be 

 this as it may, it seems certain to me that the quail does not rest on 

 the sea, guided by a favourable wind, with its wing raised for a sail, as 

 ancient naturalists have believed and poets have sung; that sailors — 

 strangers to Physiology — believe it, does not surprise me, as appear- 

 ances so strongly favour the idea ; but observation and inference ought 

 to be sufficient to confute this erroneous opinion. In the first place, 

 the quail has not in its rump that oil which is used by the Palmipedes 

 to polish their plumage, and to render it impermeable. 2. They have 

 not that down on the belly which, permeable by the air though repel- 

 ling the water, preserves the Palmipedes from an immediate contact 

 with that element. On this account, the moment the quail touched 

 the water its feathers would be soaked through, and would stick to its 

 belly ; at the same time, its divided feet would neither serve to propel 

 or direct its course. It may be said that it is propelled by the wind, 

 and that the wing answers the purpose of a sail ; but the wing of a 

 quail is so formed that it has not the power of employing it in a verti- 

 cal and transverse position ; it would be broken and distorted : and 

 moreover, could the wing be so placed, a wind from behind would be 

 the only wind that could possibly navigate this little boat, deprived 

 of oars and rudder. Sailors and fishermen often perceive the period 

 of the migrations of the quails over the water, but it is either fatigue 

 or the wind which beats them down, and it may be affirmed, without 



