English Quails Among the less usual birds that nested in
North Devon last year was the quail. A farmer cut over the nest and reported to a local naturalist that he -had disclosed one of those landrail nests. _ He found it to contain a clutch of quails' eggs, hard set. The quail is, of course, one of the most courageous of birds, though also furtive, and the mother took no notice whatever of the disturbance of her peace. She went on sitting on the exposed nest in full sight of the har- vesters, and allowed the curious ornithologist to watch her as long as he would within a few yards. The one thing she could not endure was the eye of the camera. The eggs were duly hatched, and the quail, which is Athena-like, born into full activity, instantly carried off the family into 1 ess public resorts, and we may hope eventually reached her winter home in North Africa and dodged the long shore nets of Egyptian hunters. A return of the quail to England seems to be in progress ; and we may perhaps presume that the birds bred in England are those most likely to come back again.
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