Casarca rutila, found about salt lakes,

‘ Kata, or the desert Shieldrake,
t forward the idea of ‘large red-legged Cranes, three feet
et from tip to tip,’ by which he undoubtedly means the
arkened the sky, he states, when camping near the

have conjectured the Sand-Grouse,
a most uneatable bird ; while Dean Stanley has pu
high, with black and white w
White Stork, the innumerabl
ie derah (Sinai & Palestine, p. 82). of — |
a, = | lly true that vast flocks of all these three species of birds do visit the Sinaitic desert at
ee cas en the Black Stork in almost as large numbers ; while the Dean
ts the possibility of the Stork on account of its standing three feet high, and thus explaining the
suggests the pos j 7 , ae) 5
ae of re being two cubits from the ground. But besides that the flesh of these birds is abominable
7 ; SCr ey AV Sentnye
for food, while the Sand-Grouse is very dry and hard, and could scarcely have fully Sa the hungry
: : identity of the Common Quail with the Hebrew ‘ se/a’ in its Arabic
very descriptive of the round plump form and fat flesh of

ings, measuring seven fe
e flights of which literally d

the time of migration ; and I have also se

people, we have a clear proof of the

ee :

wa, fr : enifying ‘to be fat,
name ‘salwa, from a root signitying , | |
‘as it were two cubits bigh upon the face of the earth’ probably refers to the

 

the Quail. The expression
height at which the Quails fly above the ground. By nae Peles Iles

« There are several expressions in the scriptural account which are bonne out by observations of the a its
of the Quail. At all times its flight is very low, just skimming the surface of the ground) and, especially
when fatigued, it keeps close. It migrates in vast flocks, and regularly crosses the Arabian desert, flying for
the most part at night ; and when the birds settle ae are so ay See that they may be captured
in any numbers by the hand. Being birds of weak flight they instinctively select the shortest Ses pas ices
and avail themselves of any island as a halting-place. Thus in spring and autumn they are slaughtered In
numbers on Malta and many of the Greek islands, which they quit in a day or two, very few being seen until
the period of migration comes round again. They also fly with the wind, never facing it, like many other birds.

“The period when they were brought to the Camp of Israel was in spring, when on their northward
migration from Africa. According to their well-known instinct they would follow up the coast of the Red
Sea till they came to its bifurcation by the Sinaitic Peninsula, and then, with a favouring wind, would cross
at the Aarow part, resting near the shore before proceeding. Accordingly we read that the wind brought
them up from the sea, and that, keeping close to the ground, they fell thick as rain about the camp, in the
month of April according to our calculation. Thus the miracle consisted in the supply being brought to
the tents of Israel by the special guidance of the Lord, in exact harmony with the known habits of the bird.
The Israelites ‘ spread them ’ out, when they had taken them before they were sufficiently refreshed to escape,
‘round about the camp’ to dry and prepare them for food, exactly as Herodotus tells us the Egyptians
were in the habit of doing with Quails, drying them in the sun.

‘““We thus see on careful comparison how the most ancient of all historical works and natural history
reflect attesting lights on each other.

“The Quail’s note, when once heard, will be always recognized— Peek-whit-whit !’ rapidly repeated, and
somewhat resembling the sound of some species of locust. The bird is not gregarious during the breeding-
season, and rears large bevies of young, sometimes as many as sixteen in a brood. It is too well known
to require description, and a Quail of the year is considered the most delicate eating of all game.”

The mode of incubation of the Quail is very similar to that of the Partridge, the female depositing her
eggs in a slight depression in the ground, either natural or scratched for their reception, in the centre of
corn-fields, or amidst the covert of bordering scrubs or rough patches of ground. ‘The eggs,” says
Bue Hewitson, “vary much in number, being from six to fourteen, though most commonly ten; they
differ also in colour and warkings.” The egg figured by him as most characteristic of the species is of
a deep buff, largely blotched round the centre with deep brown, has numerous reddish dots and_ stains
Bree the remainder of its surface, and a large patch of dark brown near the smaller end ; if measures one
inch and a quarter in length by seven-eighths in breadth: av
numerously spotted all over with minute marks of
are more as strikingly different.

The high spirit, ardour,
the present. <« As

ariety figured on the same plate is pale buff,
deep brown and purple ; and Mr. Hewitson says there

and pugnacity of the Quail have been celebrated from ancient times to
vite 5 as ails j ¢ 2G ° .
f a‘ ee as Quails in a cage” was a Greek proverb ; and Quail-fighting Van
avourite amusement with ee fee ,

the Greeks and R Ss, who kept it in numbers for. this purpose as our

oman
forefathers did ge S 1 | 1 “ho N ~{fl tine Ss
9 ame-cocks : and In C ¢ 1 ‘ C 1 i i oD i i

: od ndia and China Quail fighting as well as Cock gh Inge Is still a

pop ul ar amusement.

The Plate represents a male and female and a clute

h of oune on < e ae ‘ :
1 es, all of the natural size. The plants
are the common Daisy and the Speedwell (7% young ; ature |

romea chamedrys, Linn.).