482 
THE QUAIL. 
the eye and runs along the sides of the neck over the breast, where it is very broad. A num- 
ber of black dotted streaks extend from the black stripe so as to form an interrupted band of 
black over the shoulders. The breast is gray, the abdomen is fawn, and the feathers of the 
flanks and sides are marked with curved bands of gray, white, black, and fawn. The legs and 
beak are red. The total length of this bird is between thirteen and fourteen inches. The 
female is like the male, but smaller and not quite so brightly colored. 
The Sahguihe Fraxcolix may fairly be reckoned as the finest of its group. 
This splendid bird inhabits the great Himalayan range, and is thought to be peculiar to 
that region. Very little is known of its habits, the fullest account being that given by Hr. 
Hooker, and quoted by Mr. Gould in his “Birds of Asia.” 
“This, the boldest of the Alpine birds of its kind, frequents the mountain ranges of 
Eastern Nepal and Sikkim, at an elevation varying from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, and is very 
abundant in many of the valleys among the forests of pine {Abies Webbiana ) and juniper. It 
seldom or never crows, but emits a weak cackling noise. When put up, it takes a very short 
flight, and then runs to shelter. During winter it appears to burrow under the hills among 
the snow, for I have snared it in January, in regions thickly covered with snow, at an altitude 
of 12,000 feet. I have seen the young in May. 
“The principal food of this bird consisting of the tops of the pine and juniper in spring, 
and the berries of the latter in autumn and winter, its flesh has always a very strong flavor, 
and is, moreover, uncommonly tough ; it was, however, the only bird I obtained at these great 
elevations in tolerable abundance for food, and that not very frequently. 
“ The Bhoteas say that it acquires a distinct spur every year ; certain it is, that they are 
more numerous than in any other bird, and that they are not alike on both legs. I could 
not discover the cause of this difference, neither could I learn if they were produced at differ- 
ent times. I believe that five on one leg and four on the other is the greatest number I have 
observed.” 
The coloring and arrangement of their plumage are very complete, and entirely different 
in the two sexes. In the male, the forehead and a line round the eyes are black, and the crest 
is gray with buff streaks. The chin and throat are deep blood -red, and the upper part of the 
breast is white streaked with black. The feathers of the back and whole of the upper surface 
are slaty-gray, each having a streak of white crossed with black down the centre ; and the 
breast and upper part of the abdomen are light green, streaked with blood-red and white. 
The lower part of the abdomen is brown-gray. The upper tail-coverts are blood-red, with 
a long narrow streak of yellow down the centre of each feather ; and the tail is white at the 
tip, and each feather is broadly crossed with blood-red at the base. The bill is black at the 
tip and red at the base, and the legs and feet are deep pinky-red. The female is a bird of very 
sober plumage, being reddish-brown, lighter on the head and neck, and freckled with black 
on the back. The under surface is rather redder than the upper. In size, the Sanguine Fran- 
colin about equals an ordinary fowl. 
The odd, short-legged, round-bodied, quick-footed Quail is closely allied to the partridge 
in form and many of its habits. Of these birds there are many species ; but as all are much 
alike, there is no need of many examples. 
The common Quail is found spread over the greater part of Europe, and portions of Asia 
and Africa, coming in the summer, though not in very great numbers. In Italy and some of 
the warmer lands which the Quails traverse during their periodical migrations, the inhabitants 
look forward to the arrival of the Quail with the greatest anxiety. In those countries they are 
shot, snared, and netted by thousands ; and it is chiefly from the foreign markets that our game 
shops are supplied with these birds. When fat, the flesh of the Quail is very delicious ; and 
the most approved way of cooking the bird is to envelop it in a very thin slice of bacon, tie it 
up in a large vine-leaf, and then roast it. 
In their migrations the Quails fly by night, a peculiarity which has been noted in the 
Scriptural record of the Exodus, where it is mentioned, that “ at even the Quails came up and 
