QUAIL, Coturnix, a genus of gallinaceous birds of the family tetraonidte, nearly allied 'to partridges, but having a more slender bill, a shorter tail, longer wings, no spur, and no red space above the eye. The first and second quills of the wing are about as long as the third, which is the longest in the more roundeel wing of the partridges. Quails, therefore, far excel partridges in their power of flight. The tail is very short. They never perch on trees, but always alight on the ground. They are among the smallest of gallinneeous birds. The common quail or C. dactytisonans) is found in most parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In India and other warm countries it is a perma nent resident; but in many countries it is a bird of passag.; and thus it visits the north of Europe, and at certain seasons appears in vast multitude:" en the coasts and islands of the Meditemtneati, so that quails are there taken in hundrcds of thousands in their northern and southern migrations. The quail is not plentiful at. any season in any part of Britain ; but sometimes appears even in the northern part: of Scotland, and more frequently in the south of England, where it is sometimes seen even in winter. There is reason to believe that the food miraculously supplied to the Israelites in the wilderness was this very species of bird, to which the name selav, used in the Mosaic narrative, 'seems to quail is fully seven inches in entire length: .1f a brown color,
.streaked with different shades, and the wings mottled with light-brown; the throat white, with dark-brown bands in the male, and a black patch beneath the white, the lower parts yellowish-white. The quail is polygamous. The nest is /I nacre hole in the ground, with 7 to 12 eggs. The quail is highly esteemed for the table. Great numbers of quails are brought front the continent to the London market.—Other species of quail are found in different parts of Asia, although no other is so abundant as the common • quail, and none migrates as it does. The Coromandel quail (C. textdis) is a very pretty little bird, rather smaller than the common quail. The Chinese quail (C. excalfect.nria), a very beautiful little species, only about 4 inches long, is abundant in China, and is there kept for fighting, the males being very pugnacious, like those of other polygamous birds, and much money is lost and won on the combats of these quails. It is also used for a singular purpose—the warming of the hands of its owner.