have conjectured the Sand-Grouse, ‘ Kata,' or the desert Shieldrake, Casarca rutila, found about salt lakes,
a most uneatable bird ; while Dean Stanley has put forward the idea of ‘ large red-legged Cranes, three feet
high, with black and white wings, measuring seven feet from tip to tip,’ by which he undoubtedly means the
White Stork, the innumerable flights of which literally darkened the sky, he states, when camping near the
Wady Huderah (Sinai & Palestine, p. 82).
“ It is undoubtedly true that vast flocks of all these three species o f birds do visit the Sinaitic desert at
the time o f migration ; and I have also seen the Black Stork in almost as large numbers; while the Dean
suggests the possibility of the Stork on account of its standing three feet high, and thus explaining the
statement of their being two cubits from the ground. But besides that the flesh o f these birds is abominable
for food, while the Sand-Grouse is very dry and hard, and could scarcely have fully satisfied the hungry
people, we have a clear proof o f the identity of the Common Quail with the Hebrew ‘ selao’ in its Arabic
name ' salwa,’ from a root signifying * to be f a t/—very descriptive of the round plump form and fat flesh of
the Quail. The expression * as it were two cubits high upon the face o f the earth ’ probably refers to the
height at which the Quails fly above the ground.
“ There are several expressions in the scriptural account which are borne out by observations of the habits
o f the Quail. At all times its flight is very low, just skimming the surface of the ground, and, especially
when fatigued, it keeps close. I t migrates in vast flocks, and regularly crosses the Arabian desert, flying for
the most p art at n ig h t; and when the birds settle they are so utterly exhausted that they may be captured
in any numbers by the hand. Being birds of weak flight they instinctively select the shortest sea-passages,
and avail themselves o f 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 o f migration comes round again. They also fly with the wind, never facing it, like many o ther birds.
“ The period when they were brought to the Camp o f Israel was in spring, when on their northward
migration from Africa. According to their well-known instinct they would follow up the coast o f the Red
Sea till they came to its bifurcation by the Sinaitic Peninsula, and then, with a favouring wind, would cross
a t the narrow 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 o f April according to our calculation. Thus the miracle consisted in the supply being brought to
the tents of Israel by the special guidance o f 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 o f doing with Quails, drying them in the sun.
“ W e thus see on careful comparison how the most ancient of all historical works and natural history
reflect attesting lights on each other.
“ T he Quail’s note, when once heard, will be always recognized—‘ P eek-whit-whit!’ rapidly repeated, and
somewhat resembling the sound o f some species of locust. The bird is not gregarious during the breeding-
season, and rears large bevies o f young, sometimes as many as sixteen in a brood. I t is too well known
to require description, and a Quail o f the year is considered the most delicate eating of all game.”
The mode o f 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, o r amidst the covert of bordering scrubs or rough patches o f ground. “ The eggs,” says
Mr. Hewitson, “ vary much in number, being from six to fourteen, though most commonly t e n ; they
differ also in colour and markings.” T h e 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
over the remainder of its surface, and a large patch of dark brown near the smaller end ; it measures one
inch and a quarter in length by seven-eighths in b read th : a variety figured on the same plate is pale buff,
numerously spotted all over with minute marks o f deep brown and p u rp le ; and Mr. Hewitson says there
are more as strikingly different.
The high spirit, ardour, and pugnacity of the Quail have been celebrated from ancient times to
the present. “ As quarrelsome as Quails ini a c ag e ” was a Greek proverb; and Quail-fighting was a
favourite amusement with the Greeks and Romans, who kept it in numbers for this purpose as our
forefathers did game-cocks; and in India and China Quail-fighting as well as Cock-fighting is still a
popular amusement.
The Plate represents a male and female and a clutch o f young ones, all of the natural size. The plants
are the common Daisy and the Speedwell ( Veronica chamcedrys, Linn.).