Bi-ke-bik, Bi-ke-bik, Bi-ke-bik.
[[MIDI]]
Quails have always been considered a delicacy for the table, and those who may have the curiosity to visit the London markets in the spring of the year, will see large boxes full of live quails, which have been taken in nets and imported to this country for food.
THE LAPWING.
In the same way immense numbers of Lapwings (Vanellus cristatus), or Green Plovers, as they are called, find their way into the London markets. This bird has been noticed by Shakespeare chiefly on account of a peculiar trait in its character, with which most naturalists
are very familiar. Like the partridge and some other birds, it has a curious habit of trying to draw intruders away from its nest or young by fluttering along the ground in an opposite direction, or by feigning lameness, or uttering melancholy cries at a distance:—
“Far from her nest the lapwing cries away.”
Comedy of Errors, Act iv. Sc. 2.
Allusions to this habit are not unfrequent in our older poets. Lily, in his “Campaspe,” 1584, says:—