Quail in England
An attempt, of which good results are expected, is being made to naturalise American quail in this country. In most years a few quail come over the Channel, nearly all of them towards the west of the island. A pair bred successfully a year or two ago in north Devon ; and many years ago it was a common experience for sportsmen to come upon families of quail in Pembrokeshire. Whether any species of quail can be induced to settle down in England is another question, but it might become a habit of owners of sporting properties to breed quail as they now breed pheasants or Hungarian and other partridges. From the sportsmen's point of view the quail is not a perfect quarry for its habit, at any rate, in its native quarters, is to fly very low except when on migra- tion. However, a sprinkling of these interesting birds would be welcomed anywhere, and the experiment, originally, I believe, designed at the partridge research station at Kneb- worth will be watched with interest. It would certainly be better to breed our mit quail than to countenance the cru:'ties inherent in the import of Egyptian quail.
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