QUAIL 
249 
QUAIL. 
{Coturnix communis.^ 
The Quail is a summer visitor to this country 
in very varying numbers, and is found in England 
most frequently in the more easterly and southerly 
counties. At varying intervals it arrives in some 
one season in far greater numbers than usual, and 
these incursions serve to some extent to keep up 
the stock for several succeeding years. The last 
great year for Quails was the very hot, dry summ.er 
of 1893 ; since then they have become distinctly 
scarce again, though in 1899, another hot year, 
there was also a considerable influx ; but the miser- 
ably wet seasons of 1902 and 1903 have brought, 
for the present, their annual numbers in this 
country to a low ebb. To an even greater degree 
than Partridges they profit by a dry, fine breeding 
season. They have long been particularly numer- 
ous in many parts of Ireland ; but there, too, they 
are at present far scarcer than they used to be. 
The Quail is a quaint, plump, very sporting little 
bird, and much resembles a miniature Partridge 
with a short turned down tail. It arrives in May 
and breeds about the end of the month, or in June ; 
the nest is a small, scantily-lined hollow among 
standing crops, or rough grass and herbage, and 
