QUAIL. 109 



it ventures no farther than an adjoining stubble-field. Quails 

 are very unsociable birds, for they do not keep in company 

 together even while running among the standing corn; and when 

 a pair of them is started on the wing, they fly away in dif- 

 ferent directions. Even when there is a young brood they 

 hardly keep united, although the mother calls her young 

 ones together while they are quite small and helpless. The 

 male birds fight at all times whenever they meet in a wild 

 state, and this propensity has induced man, ages ago, to 

 keep Quails for the purpose of enjoying the sight : at pre- 

 sent this cruelty is still practised in some countries, but we 

 hope that civilization will change the unmanly taste. The 

 Quail does not require to be encouraged in its propensity 

 for fighting, for if a pair of birds, male and female, which 

 have not been caught together, are put in a cage, the male 

 is almost sure to peck the female to death if she intrudes 

 on his privacy. 



The call-note of the Quail is very peculiar, and varied 

 under different circumstances : in the spring of the year 

 they say bubewee or brubrub ; when frightened they chirp 

 like young chickens ; and if caged during the time of mi- 

 gration, they incessantly repeat the word pievoi-ree, pievoi- 

 ree, in a fretful tone, at the same time endeavouring to 

 find an outlet to escape by. 



The Quail is easily tamed in confinement; and we are assured 

 by a person who kept some live birds, that he had among 

 others 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 ac- 

 quainted, and the Quail might frequently be seen to lie 

 on the rug near the dog, enjoying with him the warmth of 

 the fire. 



The Quail feeds on grain, seeds, and insects, and, like 

 most of its kind, swallows coarse sand or small stones with 

 its food, to assist digestion. 



VOL. IV. I 



