Common Quail

The common quail is a small, ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family. Its cryptic plumage and habit of staying within crops or other cover make it much easier to hear than to see. The male's characteristic advertising song is a rhythmic three-part phrase, frequently repeated in quick succession. Although the visually similar Japanese quail occurs nearby, its call is clearly different. The two species' ranges meet in Mongolia and around Lake Baikal without apparent natural interbreeding. (Wikipedia, general species account)

Unlike many game birds, the common quail is strongly migratory, breeding across the Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India. It forages on the ground for weed seeds, cereal gleanings, beetles, bugs, ants, earwigs, grasshoppers and insect larvae. When disturbed, it usually creeps away and, if forced into flight, remains low before dropping into cover. The female lays eight to thirteen eggs in a lightly lined ground scrape, incubates them alone for 17–20 days, and tends the precocial young. (Wikipedia, general species account)