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Some birds have bright red chests

and sing pretty songs.

They are robins.

Some birds are tiny, have quick heartbeats,

and flap their wings quickly.

They are hummingbirds.

But what are these birds with plump,

round bodies and small heads?

They are quails.

There are many kinds of quails.

By Susan Markowitz Meredith

Quails, Quails, and More Quails!

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Comprehension Skill:Questioning

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All quails are the same

in some ways.

But in other ways, they are different.

Some quails have fancy top feathers.

The head and body feathers of quails

can also be interesting.

Each kind of quail has its own pattern.

2

Quail Fact Robins and California quails are the same size. They are both smaller than a football.

California quail

3

Quails usually stay in groups.

Most quails don’t travel far.

But common quails do travel far.

Every spring, they fly north from Africa.

These birds spend the summer laying eggs.

Then they go south again.

Mountain quails also travel.

They move up and down

on the mountains where they live.

IRELANDUNITEDKINGDOM

DENMARK

FRANCE

SPAIN ITALY

POLAND BELARUS

ROMANIA

GREECE

U K R A I N E

HUNGARY

The Springtime Route of Common Quails Common quails travel from Africa to Europe in the spring. They return to Africa in the fall.

Europe

Africa

3

You probably won’t need

to travel far to find a quail.

Quails live in fields, deserts,

and woods.

There are quails all over

the world!

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Quail Fact There are 130 kinds of quails in the world.

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ReadILLUSTRATIONS: Jason Dove. MAP: Mountain High Maps. PHOTOS: Getty Images: Tom Brakefield/Stockbyte (p. 4, above bottom left); iStockphoto.com: Frank Leung (p. 1, hummingbird), Gary Martin (p. 1, robin), Melvin Milne (p. 2, bottom right; p. 4, top right), NaturesDisplay (p. 2, top right; p. 4, top left), Peter Llewellyn (p. 1, top right; p. 2, bottom center; p. 4, below top right), phdpsx (p. 3, top left; p. 4, bottom right), Steven Myers (p. 4, bottom left); Shutterstock, Inc.: Tim Zurowski (p. 1, bottom left); JupiterImages Corporation: all other images.