Loved and persecuted: the quail’s tale

THE Old World quail, native to Europe, Asia and Africa, are included in the large pheasant family Phasianidae, along with the pheasants and partridges. Of these species, the commonest and most widespread is the common quail (Coturnix coturnix), a summer visitor to Britain which breeds here, but is more often heard than seen. Coturnix also includes the Japanese quail (C. japonica) and the harlequin quail (C. delegorguei) of Africa. Recently moved to a new genus Synoicus is that avicultural favourite, the diminutive Chinese painted quail (S. chinensis), which in ornithology is more often known as the king quail.

These quail of the Old World are anatomically different from the 34 species of American (New World) quails, which comprise their own distinct family, Odontophoridae. These