132 The Natural History of British Game Birds 
Stornoway in Lewis. It seems that the Quail has been noticed more frequently of 
recent years in the Orkneys, and from what peasants have told me it is an almost 
annual visitor at Pomona, where a few have been shot at different times. I think 
that it is more likely to stay in Orkney during winter than on the mainland, owing to 
the fact that snow seldom lies on these islands for any length of time. During twelve 
years' shooting there I have never come across a Quail, but often heard of individuals 
being seen. A specimen occurred in North Ronaldshay in July 1885. 
The species seems to be an irregular visitor to Unst in the Shetlands. Saxby 
states that a nest containing ten eggs was found there in September 25, 1868, whilst 
Mr. J. Ferrier, writing in the Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1894 (p. 116), 
states, " Numbers of Quails bred in Unst this season. I have not known the bird to 
breed here before." It has also been killed near Scalloway. To Wales it is an 
irregular summer migrant, and was numerous there in the big years of 1870 and 1893. 
In its sporadic migrations it is rarest in Anglesey and Carnarvon, and commonest in 
Flint and Denbigh. 
In Ireland it is described by Messrs. Ussher and Warren as "common until 1850 
or later, when it was found at all seasons ; it then diminished in numbers until it 
reappeared temporarily in 1892 and some subsequent summers." Giraldus and sub- 
sequent writers reported it as numerous in Ireland, and, possibly owing to the growth 
of wheat, Thompson found it to be an increasing species in 1831. It seems it has 
been most abundant previous to 1845. About 1848 large numbers of Quails were to 
be met with in the stubbles, and in Sligo bags from five to ten brace were frequently 
made at Easky. "The birds often frequented," Messrs. Ussher and Warren state, 
" rough elevated ground full of furze, but were particularly attached to the small hold- 
ings of the peasantry, where they could feed on the seeds of various weeds, and lurk 
in the headlands and straggling fences. In such situations Quails were to be met with 
on the edges of the bogs, but did not resort to the latter ; consequently their haunts 
were circumscribed in those western counties, which are chiefly unreclaimed, but whether 
in Kerry or in Mayo they were common on cultivated ground. Maritime counties were 
frequented as well as inland districts ; thus Northern Tipperary and the adjoining 
counties abounded in Quails, and so did Louth and Antrim ; and it would be hard to 
say whether they were most common in the province of Munster, of Leinster, or of Ulster." 
After 1853 Quails seemed to have decreased in Ireland, but still seemed to be common 
until i860 in certain localities. This decrease continued until the seventies, when Quails 
became rare except in Louth and Wexford. After 1880, except for rare sporadic cases 
of nesting, the Quail seems to have avoided Ireland in migration until the end of 
1891. In 1892 and 1893, when there was also a big migration to England and 
Scotland, Quails reappeared in some numbers in Ireland. They were reported from 
eighteen counties and bred in Louth, Fermanagh, and Antrim. In 1894-5 Quails 
were scarce, but numerous again in 1896 in several widely separated districts. In 
1899 they came again, and will doubtless do so at irregular intervals in the future. 
During the last decade Quails seem to have lost their " resident " character in 
Ireland as they have in England, whilst their summer visits have been most uncertain. 
1 The Birds of Ireland, p. 234. 
