QUAIL SHOOTING 
and in the country all round there quails breed in large numbers, 
and in the early autumn it is easy to bag fifty in a day. For this 
information acknowledgment should be made to Mr Hulme Beaman, 
whose close acquaintance with the Balkan States, and particularly 
Bulgaria, qualify him to speak with authority on the sport to be obtained 
there. 
GREECE. — The opriS, of Aristotle, known to the Greek peasants and 
sportsmen of the present day as ortukif arrives in great numbers in the 
month of March, and again in August and September, being a migratory 
bird at those periods of the year. The few pairs that stay to breed begin 
nesting in May, and some even remain during the winter. Great numbers 
are caught by the peasantry in nets, and when salted and packed form 
a lucrative article of commerce.* M. de Heldreich, a resident of Athens, 
informed me during my visit to that city that thousands of these little 
birds are sent away annually packed in barrels, after being plucked, drawn 
and flattened between layers of sea-salt. In this condition they may be 
preserved for a long time, being taken out and washed when required for 
roasting. 
According to the late Lord Lilford a few quails remain the whole year 
in Corfu and Epirus; but great numbers arrive every year in April and 
remain for a few days. On the little island of Fano, especially, they some- 
times at that season alight in incredible numbers, often remaining only 
for a single night. “Occasionally” (he writes) “I have met with good 
sport at quails in the maize fields of Epirus in September. These were 
chiefly young birds that had been bred in the country. A few are always 
to be found in winter on the grassy hills of the mainland opposite to Corfu, 
particularly on those near the little harbour of Pagania.”f 
CYPRUS. — ^According to the latest information on the subject^ the 
quail is a regular visitor in some numbers to Cyprus on its spring and 
autumn migrations. A few remain to breed, and some spend the winter 
in the island. In some years very fair sport can be obtained during the 
autumn, ,whilst in others these little birds are noticeable. Mr J. A. 
Bucknill states that during his residence in the island the best bag reported 
to him was ten -and -a -half couple shot by two English sportsmen, Messrs 
* Heldreich, Faune de Grice, p. 49. 
\ Notes on European Ornithology, p. 31. 
t Bucknill, The Ornithology of Cyprus, in The Ibis for July, 1910. 
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