Genus Coturnix 
THE QUAIL 
Coturnix coturnix (Linnjeus) 
Local Names. — Gearra-gort, 1 (Gaelic); Sofliar (i.e. Stubble-hen) (Ancient British); " Wet-me-lips " 
(Southern English) ; Rhine ( Welsh) ; Caille (French) ; Wachtel (German). 
Adult Male. — Bill, greyish brown ; above, greenish blue ; below, yellowish tip ; 
irides, hazel ; over the eye, and extending down the side of the neck, is a band of 
yellowish white, formed by marks on the centres of the feathers ; crown, black above, 
with a line of pale yellowish feathers down the centre extending to the nape ; nape, black 
and rufous-brown with yellowish centres ; throat, pale chestnut-brown, with black line 
of feathers down the centre and across the base ; 2 upper breast, reddish, with straw- 
coloured shafts ; lower breast, yellowish white ; flanks, reddish, with straw-shafts edged 
with black markings ; scapulars, back, and tail-coverts, brownish red with black 
markings, and yellowish shaft stripes. The first three feathers of the wings are of 
nearly equal length, the first a little longer than the third, and the second the longest. 
Greater and lesser wing coverts, pale rufous-brown streaked with brown and yellowish 
grey; primaries, dusky brown, with the outer bars yellowish red; legs, toes, and claws, 
greyish yellow-brown. The black patch on the throat is not acquired until the second 
year. Tail of fourteen feathers, dark-brown and barred with yellowish white. 
Adult Female. — Paler in general colour than the male ; the throat being white 
and without the crescent and black patch. The breast is marked with small dark spots 
on each side of the straw-coloured shafts ; wing coverts barred with yellowish white. 
Length, 7 in. ; wing, 4.4 in. 
Distribution. — The Quail is found in summer as far north as lat. 65 0 on the 
Continent. It breeds fairly regularly in the Faroe Islands as I am informed by Mr. 
Miiller. For the most part it is a migratory species, visiting the Mediterranean pro- 
vinces and Syria, Egypt, in immense quantities in spring, occurring in some parts in 
such multitudes as to cover the land. As they did of old in Sinai so they come north 
to-day, and are captured in tens of thousands by the natives of Egypt, Syria, Arabia, 
North Africa, and the islands of the Mediterranean, &c. In winter many reach Mada- 
gascar, Mauritius, and even South Africa, whilst on the West it occurs regularly on 
the Cape Verde Islands, the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores. It is a regular visitor 
1 Gtarr is a word of doubtful meaning, often used for birds and mammals ; gort means " famine." The application of 
the name may be derived from the story of the Israelite wanderings in the desert. 
2 Mr. Grant gives the throat as "white, with a black anchor-shaped mark down the middle." I find, however, that most 
British killed males have the throat chestnut-brown. 
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