shooting at the legitimate time of year as very good 

 sport, as the birds fly very fast, generally lie closely, 

 and in August, September, and October are well worth 

 powder and shot. I must confess that in my younger 

 days I have eagerly pursued and shot many Quails on 

 their spring-passage, but I repent of this, as every bird 

 killed at that time of year entails the loss of a bevy, and, 

 in my opinion, they are hardly worth the trouble of 

 cooking. In Spain the Quail is a very favourite cage- 

 bird, and every town and village resounds with its call, 

 of which the best rendering in English words is, I think, 

 " wet my lips," for the male, and " phu wee " for the 

 female. In captivity these birds thrive well, if plenti- 

 fully supplied with fresh water and sand or fine gravel ; 

 they become exceedingly tame, but the males are 

 proverbially pugnacious, hot-blooded, and amorous to a 

 very extraordinary degree. Common chickweed is the 

 favourite food of the Quail, but no small grain comes 

 amiss to it and many " green stuffs " are eagerly 

 devoured. 



