Reference: Quail

This bird (Coturnix communis), the smallest of the partridge family, migrates annually from Africa to Europe, crossing the Sinaitic peninsula and Palestine en route; it reaches the latter about March. It migrates in vast numbers, always flying with the wind, and often settling, after a long flight, especially across the sea, in such an exhausted condition as to be easy of capture. The flesh is fatty, and apt to disagree if taken to excess, especially if inefficiently preserved.

E. W. G. Masterman.