. Indian sporting birds . one of manymillions, and this is quite likely, for this quail is probably oneof the most numerous birds in the world. Man, it is true, is agreat enemy, as has been said ; but, on the other hand, he createsconditions favourable for the bird, which is quite at home incultivation, and only avoids deserts, swamps, and forest, whichare just the sort of country which man desires to see convertedinto cultivable land, and which without him form the majorpart of the earths surface. The common quail not only findsshelter, but food in human cultivations ; for although in thewild
. Indian sporting birds . one of manymillions, and this is quite likely, for this quail is probably oneof the most numerous birds in the world. Man, it is true, is agreat enemy, as has been said ; but, on the other hand, he createsconditions favourable for the bird, which is quite at home incultivation, and only avoids deserts, swamps, and forest, whichare just the sort of country which man desires to see convertedinto cultivable land, and which without him form the majorpart of the earths surface. The common quail not only findsshelter, but food in human cultivations ; for although in thewilds its food must consist only of grass-seed, small berries, andinsects, it gladly feeds on grain, especially the various kindsof millets. When the crops are reaped, it takes to bush-jungleand a diet of wild produce. Quail feed in the morning andevening, and probably also at night, for in captivity they areactive then ; by day they are very sluggish, and may even betrodden upon sometimes before rising, though at others they. COMMON QUAIL 263 will run some distance. When winged, they are easily lost,as they hide adroitly, and will readily go to ground in anyhole. When at ease their note is a low whistling chirp, but isharsher when they are forced to rise, and the males spring callis very distinct, a loud clear trisyllable, of which many render-ings exist. Mr. E. Kay Kobinsons Dick, be quick expressesit best to my ear. Although possessed of but a small bill anddevoid of spurs, the cock is intensely quarrelsome, and quail-fighting is as popular a sport in India now as it used to be inancient Greece. This quail is a very prolific bird, laying asmany as fourteen eggs, bat such as breed in India do not appearto l&y over ten ; the nest is made of a little grass, of course onthe ground, for, like all typical quails, this species never evenperches. The eggs are very distinctive in appearance ; they arelarge considering the number laid, measuring more than an inchin the long diameter, and
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