THS COMMON QUAIL. 
THE COJDION QUAIL 
Seems to be generally distributed over the old 
world, ihougli, in the south of Europe, it h perhaps 
a-s abun<lant bs elsewhere. In Briiain they may now 
be termed only an occasional viwUant, the nnmbertj 
of those wliich arrive to breed having ronsiilerably de- 
crea-^ed, and tbey are to be met with certainty otdy in 
Boine of the warmer soutbern or midland counties of 
England- Thirty yoai^ since ihcy were tolerably 
comnion and regular in their returns ; and even in 
the Bouih of Scotland a few broods were occasional- 
ly to be found. In these same districts ibey are 
now very uncertain. We have known of brooilai 
twice, and occasionally have shot a straggler appa- 
rently on ita way to the south, lliey are extremely 
difficult to flush after the first time. The neat ih 
made liy the female, hut, like the partritlgea, the 
eggs are deposited almost on the hare ground ; these, 
also, unlike the uuiform tint which we find prevailing 
in those of the true partridges, are deeply Idotched 
widi oil-green, and, except in form, are somewhat si- 
milar to those of tbe snipe. In France they ore 
very abundant ; and besides supplying the markets of 
that country, thousands are imported alive by the 
London poulterers, and fattened for the luxury of the 
metropolis. 
They are taken by nets, into which they are decoyed 
