Quail and decoy. Quail fighting as an opportunity for stable income? Quail fight

Common quail, or quail(lat. Coturnix coturnix; outdated name - lat. Coturnix dactylisonans s. communis) - a bird of the partridge subfamily of the order Galliformes.

Appearance

Body length 16-20 cm, weight 80-145 g.

The plumage is buffy in color, the top of the head, back, rump and upper tail coverts have dark and light brown transverse stripes and spots, a reddish stripe behind the eye. The male has dark red cheeks, a red crop, and a black chin and throat. The female differs from him in having a pale buffy chin and throat and the presence of black-brown spots (speckles) on the crop and sides.

Spreading

The common quail is common in Europe, Africa and Western Asia; in Russia - in the east to Lake Baikal. Lives in fields on plains and mountains. Winters in Africa and South-West Asia, mainly in South Africa and Hindustan. Breeds throughout Europe and Asia up to North Africa, Palestine, Iran and Turkestan. Arrives south in early April, north in early May.

Reproduction

As soon as the grass grows, the quail begins to scream and the males enter into battle with each other over the female. Nests are made on the ground. The female lays 8-20 fawn-colored eggs with black-brown spots; incubates for 15-17 days and hatches chicks without the participation of a male.

Lifestyle

When the grain is ripe, the quails move to the fields, quickly fatten up and become very fat. Depending on the latitude, they fly away from the end of August to the end of September. The food is mainly plant (seeds, buds, shoots), less often insects.

People and quail

Quail meat and eggs are very tasty. Mineral fertilizers and pesticides dispersed on fields lead to poisoning and a sharp decrease in the number of quails, which previously served as the object of hunting during the autumn migration in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Quail tolerates captivity very well. In Central Asia, quail are kept in cages as a fighting bird and for the sake of “singing” - a loud current cry.

IN Ancient Egypt the image of a quail was used as a hieroglyph for the sounds “v” and “u”:

Hunting

The main catching of quail was carried out during May, June and July, mainly in the morning or evening dawn, but only when there was no longer dew. For catching they used a net and pipes or a live female quail. The net was spread over grass or spring crops, and the hunter sat down at the edge opposite to the side from which the cry of the quail was heard, and then began to “beat the pipe,” which imitated the voice of the female quail and consisted of a bone squeak with leather furs attached to it. Instead of using pipes, a live “click” female quail was also placed under the net in a cage, which was certainly one year old and had overwintered in captivity. When a quail, lured by a pipe or net, came under the net, the hunter stood up, the bird fluttered up and became entangled in the meshes of the net. “Unlured,” that is, not frightened, the birds were extremely bold and, without fear of humans, often jumped under the net onto the cage with the female. Among the caught birds, “fighters” - two roosters (that is, well-crowed quails) were very rare, and to catch them, amateur hunters had special agents who looked for and listened in advance for good crowing quails in the meadows and fields. Calling quails were put in a cage and hung on goldfinches (that is, on a high pole), at the top of which a roof was arranged with a front and back wall, under which the cage was pulled up on a rope. The voice of a good quail could be heard two miles away in calm weather, and even further in the wind. Summer quail hunting began after harvesting grain and continued until departure.

The methods of catching quails were extremely varied: in addition to hunting with rifles and with hawks, common to all small game, quails were caught in special pillowcase nets, the upper edge of which was raised on long light poles. This net was thrown over the quail along with the dog, which made a stand over the quail. In the Turkestan region, quail were caught with a net. In the Caucasus, quails were attracted to guarded nets by fire and the ringing of a bell. In the Crimea, hunters looked for quails that had become obese by the fall, and therefore difficult to lift, on horseback and covered them from the horse with a cone-shaped net. In addition, quails were caught in huge quantities with snares placed in clover and other fields, as well as “saddle nets” stretched, like weights, along the flyway between tall trees, in clearings and gorges. Under the laws in force before 1917, quail hunting was prohibited from March 1 to July 15, with the exception of net hunting for male quail, which was permitted from May 1.

Quail singing

Quails were valued for the voice of the male (“only males scream”, and females only “croak”), which, however, has little resemblance to those sounds that are usually called singing, and is divided into mamaka> (or waak>) and scream> (or battle>). Croaking (“kva-kva”) in males is usually repeated from one to three times; in females, the call (“rise-weed”), in hunting style, consists of three separate knees: “rise”, “wire” and “ebb”. The Sudzhansky district of the Kursk province was most famous for calling quails; in general, good quails were found throughout the Kursk province, most of the Voronezh province and in some districts of the Oryol, Tula, Tambov and Kharkov provinces.

Quail fights

In Turkestan, fighting (fights) between male quails constituted a kind of Central Asian sport, which many Sarts indulged in with enthusiasm. Owners of fighting quails usually wore them in their bosoms. The arena for the fight, always accompanied by a bet, was large pits along the walls of which spectators were seated.

The quail is a small bird about the size of a thrush that prefers to live in open areas, such as steppes or meadows. It is rarely seen, but quail trills are heard in the steppe or meadow during the mating of these birds very often. To many who are not more familiar with quails, they may seem like boring and unimpressive birds. But, in fact, the quail is a very interesting, if not amazing, bird. Currently, there are eight species of these birds in the world and each of them is unique in its own way.

Description of quail

The common quail, or quail, as it is often called, belongs to the subfamily partridges of the order Galliformes. It has long been of interest to people not only as game, but also as an ornamental or songbird. Also in ancient times in Asia they were used as fighters, organizing quail fights.

Appearance

The size of the common quail is small: this bird does not exceed 20 cm in length and 150 grams in weight. It also does not shine with bright plumage; rather, its color resembles the color of yellowed grass or fallen leaves. The feathers are ocher-brownish in color and covered with dark and light small spots and stripes, which allows the quail to masterfully hide in thickets of dry grass.

The male and female differ slightly in color. The male's upper body and wings have a complex variegated color. The main tone is ocher-brown, with spots and stripes of a darker, reddish-brown hue scattered throughout. The head is also dark, with a narrow lightish stripe that runs in the middle; above the eye there is also another, lighter, pale stripe, running along the head from the edge of the nostril along the eyelid, and then to the neck, forming around the bird’s eye a semblance of light glasses with temples.

This is interesting! It can be difficult to see a quail hiding in the grass or crouched on the ground, since its color almost completely blends into the surrounding landscape. This coloring feature allows the birds to masterfully camouflage themselves and serves them as good protection from predators.

The throat of males is darker, black-brown, but by autumn it becomes lighter. The female's throat is lighter than the main color and is also covered with dark small spots and stripes. The lower part of the body is also lighter than the upper part. On the chest of quails there is a rather interesting pattern, which is formed by feathers of the main color as a result of their combination with darker ones, as well as with feathers lighter than the main color.

The wings of these birds are very long, while the tail is very small. The legs are light, short, but not massive.

Character and lifestyle

Quails are migratory birds. True, those of them who live in warm climate, do not leave their native places, but birds living in colder regions migrate south every autumn.

Unlike most migratory birds, capable of long flights and soaring high into the sky, quails fly little and are not very willing. Even from predators, they prefer to run on the ground. And, having risen into the air, they fly low above the ground, while flapping their wings frequently.

Quails live in grass thickets, which inevitably affected the characteristics of their habits and appearance . Even when flying and resting, these birds will never perch on tree branches. They will descend to the ground and, just as they do at their nesting sites, hide in the grass. Despite their small size, quails do not look graceful at all; on the contrary, they appear stocky. By autumn, they also put on fat, which is why they seem even more plump than usual. Those who hunt them at this time know very well how fat quail can be in early autumn before leaving.

Quails migrate in flocks: they fly away for the winter to the countries of South Asia and Africa, where there is no winter or cold, and in the spring they return back to their native fields and steppes.

This is interesting! Domestic quail, bred for nutritious meat and eggs, have almost completely lost the ability to fly, as well as the nesting instinct. But these birds are surprisingly unpretentious to their living conditions. They practically do not get sick and have a peaceful disposition, which makes them very convenient for growing and keeping in homesteads and small farms.

How long do quails live?

Wild quails do not live long: 4-5 years are already considered a very respectable age for them. At home, laying quails are kept even shorter: up to about one and a half years. The fact is that already at the age of one year they begin to lay eggs worse and it becomes irrational to keep them on the farm.

Species of quail // living

Currently, there are ten species of quail: eight are living and mostly thriving, and two are extinct, if not through the fault of man, then at least with his tacit consent.

Living species:

Common quail.
Mute or Japanese quail.
Australian quail.
Black-breasted quail.
Harlequin quail.
Brown quail.
African blue quail.
Painted quail.

Extinct species include:

New Zealand quail.
Canary quail.

The vast majority of these species do not shine with the brightness of their plumage, with the exception of the African blue quail, the males of which more than justify the name of their species. From above, their color is not much different from the color of all other quails, but the lower part of the head, starting from the eyes and below, the throat, chest, abdomen and tail, has an iridescent color, intermediate between sapphire blue and bluish.

On the cheeks, chin and throat there is a bright white teardrop-shaped spot, bordered black stripe. But the females of the African blue quail are the most ordinary, unremarkable laying quails with an ocher-reddish variegated base color and a lighter, whitish belly.

This is interesting! Japanese quail, in wildlife no different large sizes(90-100 grams - the weight of an adult male), became the ancestor of all breeds of domestic quail, including meat ones, whose weight reaches 300 grams, which is three times the weight of their ancestor.

Males of the painted quail are distinguished by an even brighter color: their head and neck are dark gray, the upper body is colored sky-sapphire with a slight admixture of gray, the chest, abdomen and flight feathers are reddish-brown, the beak is black, and the legs are bright -orange. This species is distinguished by the smallest size among quails: their weight ranges from 45 to 70 grams, and their length is 14 cm.

Range, habitats

The range of the common quail is extensive: these birds live almost throughout the Old World: in Europe, Asia and Africa. Moreover, according to their habitat, quails are divided into sedentary and migratory. Resident quails live in warmer regions where there is no need to migrate south. Migratory birds live in regions with colder climates, and therefore, with the onset of autumn, they take wing and fly to southern countries for the winter. Quails prefer to live in the steppe and meadows among tall grass, where it is difficult for them to notice.

Areas and habitats of other, including exotic species of quail:

The mute or Japanese quail lives in Manchuria, Primorye and northern Japan, and for the winter flies to southern Japan, Korea or southern China. He prefers to settle in grassy fields, low bushes along river banks, as well as in agricultural fields sown with rice, barley or oats.
The Australian quail is widespread throughout Australia, but does not currently inhabit Tasmania, although it was found there until about the 1950s. It is most common in the wetter south-eastern and western regions of Australia, where it inhabits extensive pastures and fields sown with agricultural crops.
The black-breasted quail inhabits Hindustan, as well as the countries of Southeast Asia, where it settles in the fields, like all other quails.
Harlequin quail is found in countries tropical Africa, Madagascar and Arabian Peninsula. His favorite places habitat - endless meadows and fields covered with low vegetation.
Brown quail are found on islands scattered in Oceania, as well as in Australia and Tasmania. Settles in meadows, savannah, bush thickets and swamps. Avoids dry places and mainly lives on the plains. However, in New Zealand and New Guinea it can also live in mountainous areas.
The African blue quail inhabits the sub-Saharan African continent. Usually settles in pastures or agricultural fields near rivers or lakes.
The painted quail lives in Africa, Hindustan, Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania. They love to settle in wet meadows in both flat and mountainous areas.

Quail diet

In order to get food, the quail scatters the ground with its feet, just like an ordinary chicken does. Its diet consists of half animal and half plant foods. These birds eat small invertebrates such as worms, insects, and their larvae. The plant foods that quails eat include seeds and grains of plants, as well as shoots and leaves of trees and shrubs.

This is interesting! Young quails mainly feed on animal food, and only with age does the proportion of plant food in their diet increase.

The essay was published in No. 3 of the newspaper “Five Hunts” for 2006.

Until now, in our south, quails are sometimes kept in cages for the pleasure of listening to their cry. And in countries Central Asia this hobby is especially widespread. Quails are also kept here as fighting birds. In addition, quail is believed to bring wealth and prosperity.

Quail call

The characteristic quail fight on spring evenings can be heard several kilometers away. It is usually conveyed with the sounds: “drink-drink-drink!” or “weed-weed!” And they interpret them as “it’s time to sleep!”

In fact, the song of the common quail is somewhat more complex and consists of two clearly distinguishable parts: “wavakanya” and the fight itself. Vavakan (or “mamakan”) can be heard especially clearly at close range.

The first part: the quail repeats the hoarse, somewhat muffled, quiet sounds of “va-va” several times. This is followed by a very loud sound, repeated up to ten times. There are also males who never scream, but only wail. You can listen to such a quail all day and not hear a fight. Hunters used to call them “wawaks.” The reasons for this phenomenon are not clear. Hunters once believed that these were very old quails, with a large black spot under the throat. However, such “wawaks” are also found among young people. According to observations, such males in all other respects do not differ from others: they guard their lek site, enter into skirmishes with other males, and actively court females.

The cry of a quail, with all its simplicity, is difficult for a person to accurately convey with the sounds of human speech. In addition to the first part of the song - vavakanya, experts distinguish in the second part of it, boya, as many as three special tribes. Ordinary people can reproduce the quail song in different ways:

Va-va... va-va... under-low!.. under-under!

Wow-wow... wow-wow... wow-wow-wow!.. wow-wow-wow!

Wow-wow... wow-wow... drink-drink-drink!.. drank-drink-drink!

Va-va... wa-va... pit-slab!.. pit-slab!

Wow-wow... wow-wow... tormented!..tortured!

Vir-vir... vir-vir... drink and drink!.. drink and drink!

Kva-va... qua-va... drink-drink-beat!.. drink-drink-beat!

Ma-mmma... ma-mmma... fwat-fal-wat!.. fwat-fal-wat!

How-how... how-how... way-pude!.. way-pude!

Hva-wah... hwa-wah... sing-weed!.. sing-weed!

During mating, the quail gets very excited and looks very entertaining. This is how ornithologist M.A. described it. Menzbier: “When striking, the bird crouches, inflates its crop, at the first blow it rises, at the second it stands completely straight with its head raised, at the third it leans back a little, at the fourth or later it may even fall on its back.”

About quail fight

Once upon a time in Russia there were a lot of fans of a simple quail song. Before this activity, hunters could spend hours searching through the fields for a particularly striking singer. They were specially caught and taken special care of.

In the quail fight itself, real experts distinguished three tribes: rise, wire and ebb. Accordingly, rendered as “drink-drink-drink!” Each quail has them individually, and lovers evaluate them differently.

In mediocre quails, which, of course, are the majority, all the knees are abruptly short and merge into one hasty, somewhat whistling blow with sounds like: “fvit-fvit-vit” or “fvit-fvit-vit!”. And despite the fact that at one time they had even more blows than the most valuable quails, they were not favored and were called “frequent-grabbers” or “clean-grabbers”,

A good quail can scream loudly, although there is no particular merit in this, and not very much, but it cannot make many strikes at one time. But the more intense, prolonged, uniform and separate the blows of each knee, the higher the value of the singer. With this manner of shouting, much more effort is expended than with short, light and abrupt blows. The best quail can make one strike. And for a greater number of blows, such a singer will need special forces. It is rare that an outstanding soloist is able to do more than two or three of them.

The timbre of the fight in good quails can be either “with wheezing” or “without wheezing.” But the best ones should have the fullest, thickest “rattle.” In such quails, it, like the length, should pass evenly through all the knees of the call, and the most valuable ones usually reach the highest tension in the “wire” and, as it were, divide this knee into two tones: higher and lower and thicker. Such wheezing, together with the longest and most distant cry, was considered the height of perfection of the calling quail. These are what the quail hunters tried to find in the field and catch. In the 19th century, they paid a lot of money for such birds - up to 300 rubles. But they were always rare, and finding such a quail was far from easy.

Between the common quails and the outstanding quails, connoisseurs distinguished several more groups of “occasional” quails, ranging from “occasionally” to “occasionally anywhere”. That is, from the most mediocre to the best “occasionally”. But for the hunters these were not real quails.

Over time, interest in quail fighting faded. Connoisseurs of quail fighting have disappeared. There are few experts left in keeping quails in cages, although they still exist.

Quail at home

I had to keep a quail caught by my cop in a cage. This is a very cute bird. Keeping quails in cages is not difficult. These birds tolerate captivity well if you know how to keep them. Quails quickly get accustomed to unfamiliar surroundings. They get used to their owner, are not at all afraid of him and can recognize him when approaching, but still never become tame. Quails are killed when kept at home all year round. The most active period for a singer is from spring to autumn. Only in winter there can be a short break. Birds are unpretentious to cage conditions, very active and energetic.

Real lovers used to keep quails in special, carefully decorated cages. They were made of hardwood, oak or beech, with bamboo rods. The entire cell was covered with colorless varnish.

Quail cages should have high sides, as they like to dig in the sand that is poured onto the bottom of the cage. Instead of sand, you can also use ash. But, what is very important, instead of a ceiling in the cage, canvas is stretched. Otherwise, being frightened and jumping up, the bird may hit hard and injure its head. The feeder and drinker are taken outside the cage so that when swimming in the sand, the quail does not clog the food and water. Access to them is open to birds through holes in the sides. It is better to make the cage bars wooden.

Quails are never kept in pairs. They will fight constantly and one of them will die. And the quail strikes only alone.

The basis of quail nutrition at home is millet mixed with other seeds. It is necessary to add various greens to this food. Quails love plantain and dandelion. They will not refuse insects, sprouted millet grains and hemp. They molt once a year and very quickly, at this time the quails are heavily fed protein foods and try to take care of them and not disturb them. In the summer they can be fed with insects, and in the winter you can choose a suitable protein food. For example, ant eggs.

Quails in cages drink little, but you need to monitor the availability of water and change it more often.

Sergey Matveev

This tiny “chicken” is one of the favorite trophies of leggings. However, in the past, quail were also caught alive to be kept in cages - the male quail screams and “beats” very beautifully. Any resident of villages, inhabitants of gardens and summer cottages Anyone who has ever visited meadows and fields at the beginning of summer has probably heard the famous fight of a male quail. “Come on! Come on!” - an invisible bird whistles in the morning and at dawn, as if giving us a sign - summer has come!

Russian lovers of birdsong, songbird hunters, often kept quails at home. But there were those who dealt only with them, competitions were organized, the same as those of the canaries. Unfortunately, in Russia this type of hunting has died out almost completely. First, the merchants, the main “consumer” and buyer of this bird, disappeared, then chemicalization took effect - the quails themselves disappeared, and after this, those who knew how to catch quails and understood a lot about this matter also left. In the old days, among lovers of quail fighting, particularly ringing and tireless birds were valued extremely highly, and their price reached hundreds of rubles. But traditions are being revived, and canary competitions have already taken place in Moscow. How I wish that quail hunting, which once brought so much joy to its lovers, would be revived in Russia, and we would suddenly hear through the curtained windows of some Moscow tavern the fight of a quail, the sound of our native open spaces.

You can read more about this bloodless hunt at M.A. Menzbir, S.T. Aksakova and in a very good article Anton Mezhnev"Quail pipe", published in magazine "Nature and Hunting" No. 2-3 for 1995, which I decided to post on this page.

"Quail pipe

Russian people love the fight of quails, although there is nothing particularly pleasant to the ear in it, and many keep them in cages. Even now in Moscow, along some small streets and alleys, through the sound of wheels and the din of the people, you can often hear the voice of a quail. Needless to say, this pitiful cry, drowned out by noise, is not like the sonorous, free fight of quails in open fields, in clean air and silence: be that as it may, only in Rus' there have been, and perhaps there still are somewhere, passionate quail hunters, mostly merchants...

S. T. AKSAKOV

Notes of a rifle hunter of the Orenburg province

... Sparrowhawk (m) is a hunter of quails, as of songbirds. Who catches them? On Methodius, the feast of sparrowhawks, June 20 (s.s.). Sparrowhawking, catching quails, luring them at dawn with a pipe, under a thin net spread over the grass, or under a standing, double-walled one.

Vladimir DAL

Dictionary living Great Russian language

Who among us has not heard the “fight” of a quail: “It’s time to sleep!” Time to sleep!” - stuffy summer evenings or, conversely, in the dewy morning dawns: “Go weed! Let's go weed!"? Who, at the memory of this, even in the middle of winter, does not have a sweet heart stir, and does not it seem as if it smells of the aromas of rural Russia - earth and herbs, hay and flowering meadows?

From time immemorial "fight" of quail was an indispensable summer attribute, even a symbol of the Russian landscape - hayfields, fields, pastures. This is probably why Russians have long sought to keep quails in their homes - as a piece of summer, a warm and fruitful time. The birds seemed to warm their owners, comforting them in life’s hardships.

In the past, before the advent and spread of intensive agricultural technologies, there were tens and hundreds of times more quail than now. Their use was truly massive and commercial in nature. Birds were shot with or without gun dogs, beaten with sticks, caught with pillow nets, nooses, nets and other simple devices. Killed birds were stored in barrels; those caught alive were often kept for the purpose of fattening and further sale. Profits from quail fishing sometimes accounted for a significant part of the annual income of residents of southern Russia, Ukraine, and the Caucasus. Quails hunted in late summer and autumn, when the birds, having completed the breeding season, begin to first wander and then migrate southwards, forming huge flocks under unfavorable conditions. weather conditions for flying across seas, mountains, deserts. Keeping quails for aesthetic purposes is, in all likelihood, secondary and comes from keeping birds for the purpose of fattening them. Experience shows that young males captured during the migration period begin to “beat” already in December. Fingerlings make up the majority in the population during this period. Their peers, females, also exhibit sexual activity during this period, expressed in calling calls.

Thus, the catcher, who was a little late in selling quails, discovered that these, although dim, but very cute and unpretentious birds, have another advantage - a unique, charming “song” in its own way. An observant person, and any birder should have observation, could not help but notice that the “fight” of different males sounds different: it can be faster or slower, repeated more often or less frequently, sound several times or only once, consist of only “mumbles” or be completely devoid of them, differ in intensity, volume, purity and beauty of sound. Outstanding “singers” who best suit human tastes are quite rare.

But catch in the fall large number silent males, and then wait until winter to select the best “singers” from them, it was both inconvenient and expensive.

The method of luring and catching males was obvious to a hunter accustomed to carefully studying and using the habits of animals. When kept in captivity, he heard the call of the female - a series of gentle short trills repeated with increasing intensity, and saw the reaction to this call of the male, who increases the activity of the “fight” and strives for this sound. The combination of a pillow net and a decoy female should have been natural.

However, when using a decoy female quail, the same problems arise as when hunting in the spring with a decoy mallard duck: birds with high decoy qualities are rare, and the qualities themselves do not appear all the time. Not every hunter has the opportunity to keep decoys. Then the decoy will help him.

Quail decoy, also called "pipe" or "fairy tale", imitates the calling cry of a female. It consists of the pipe itself and a device for pumping air into it.

Dudochka- this is an ordinary pipe whistle with an internal diameter of 7-10 mm and a length of 5-7 cm. To make the pipe, straight tubular bones (humerus and femur) of large birds - geese, herons and the like, and less often - ground lamb bones were traditionally used. I have also seen pipes made from metal (brass, copper) and even plastic tubes, but they invariably turned out to be less effective than bone ones. The end of the pipe into which air is pumped is left open, and the other is tightly sealed with some soft material. Traditionally it is wax, today it is plasticine or other non-drying putty. When does the turn come to fine-tune how musical instrument, using a special narrow and thin metal plate, a small hole is made if necessary. This plate is always with the decoy, sometimes they are even connected. An experienced birder often adjusts the pipe right on the hunt.

On the side, approximately in the middle, a small hole is drilled in the tube, the size and shape of which can be changed when adjusted using putty. A threshold is made from it in front of the hole in the air path. Thus, the pipe is, in essence, an ordinary whistle.

The devices that pump air into the pipe are different for Russian and Central Asian decoys. For Russians, it is a special corrugated “fur”, tightly fastened with wax and harsh threads at the open end of the tube. The fur itself was traditionally made from tanned leather; the best material for it was considered to be cow tail. A special machine was used to make the fur corrugated. At the end opposite the pipe, the fur is hermetically sealed. A special cork is inserted into it, and the fur skin is sewn over it. A kind of “handle” is formed, which is convenient to hold with two fingers. A loop of thin rope is tied to it, of such a size that you can freely thread your hand through it. Fur dimensions: length 10-14 cm, diameter near the pipe 12-15 mm, at the opposite end about 30 mm, depth of the ring folds 2-3 mm.

Extracting sound from a Russian decoy, although it looks quite simple on the surface, in reality requires certain skills. It's done like this. The decoy is held with the left hand, and the fur is pulled by the rope loop with the right. When the loop is released, the bellows contracts and the pipe emits a short, gentle whistle - the first leg of the trill. Immediately the bellows is squeezed even more tightly, and the pipe emits a second warble sound. It sounds almost the same as the first one. Then the fur is released and stretched by the loop - the decoy is again ready for use. This cycle (stretching-releasing-compressing-releasing-stretching) must be brought to automaticity by the hunter - he must learn to produce a series of double triggers without looking at the bike.

Central Asia has its own traditions of catching and keeping quails in captivity, perhaps even more ancient than in Russia. In Central Asian semolina - "kirk" There is a pipe, just like the Russian one. Even the shape and dimensions of the tuning plate are the same. True, it is most often not metal, but made from a reed stalk, which is close in strength to bamboo.

However, the method of pumping air into the pipe and the design of the decoy itself in Central Asia are completely different. The base for the pickaxe is carved from a single piece of wood, but consists of several parts. An elongated “console” with a groove for attaching a pipe and a round part with a recess (diameter about 3 cm, depth 6-7 mm) are required.

However, in order to reproduce the calling calls of a female, it is necessary to use, in addition to the fingers, another part of the human body - the oral cavity. This decoy is similar in appearance to a small spoon, in the handle of which there is a pipe, and the “scoop” plays a role in pumping air. This “spoon” is placed in the mouth between the teeth and cheek, with the indentation towards the cheek. The cheek thus becomes a membrane covering the rounded depression of the kirk. By hitting the outside of the cheek with his fingers and manipulating the lips, cheeks and tongue, the wafer can extract from the pipe sounds that satisfy the tastes of the most demanding male quail. The disadvantage of this method is that it is difficult to master. Without repeated demonstration and repetition on a specific decoy, this is impossible, and not every student will decide to put a decoy in his mouth, even after a very respectable elder-teacher.

Another variety of Central Asian quail call uses the same principle of air injection using a cavity and a membrane, but in this case the membrane is no longer the cheek, but a piece of elastic, airtight material. It is fixed at the point where the pipe exits into the rounded recess of the pickaxe, stretched and held with the left hand, and the fingers of the right hand strike the membrane with a light shot. The skin from the neck (throat) of ducks and geese was traditionally used as a material for the membrane, and feathers were not removed from it. It was believed that they give the sound the necessary softness. IN modern conditions rubber is used more often bicycle cameras, medical gloves and even children's balloons. For a more natural sound, the drummer wets the membrane with saliva.

A special type of Central Asian decoys are adjustable pickaxes. Their peculiarity is that the pipe is integral with the base of the semolina (made from the same piece of material). Its outer end is not covered with wax, but is closed with a special piston, which regulates the pitch of the sound. Quails, like people, have their own “taste”, so directly during the hunt you can choose the sound of a decoy that evokes the most violent reaction male Experienced quail catchers have no doubt that younger males like females with low voices, that is, older ones, and older males like younger females with higher voices. The piston is either a tightly rolled, bandaged and glued cylinder of leather with a tassel at the end, or a special screw. In the first case, the decoy is made of wood, and the piston, held by the brush, is slightly pulled out of the pipe or pushed into it; in the second, the pickaxe is made of plastic, sometimes transparent (it looks very impressive), and adjustments are made by turning a screw.

Finally, the decoy is ready, and the hunter chooses a time for hunting (at middle lane Russia, as a rule, no earlier than 2-3 weeks after arrival, after the main part of the females have settled on the clutches) and place (it should be heard or possibly larger number males, or one single “outstanding singer”). In this case, the catcher can provoke males to scream by loudly playing the pipe.

When a place has been found and the desired male has responded, the catcher spreads a net measuring from 2x3 to 6x6 m on the grass, and he lies down behind it with a pipe. This is where it all begins! The excitement of such a hunt is incomparable to anything. Respectable elders turn into mischievous boys in an instant. Old people in Russian villages, when remembering these episodes, forget about their ailments and are ready to depict in their faces all the vicissitudes of the hunt. The essence of the hunt is to, by calling to the quail, lure it under the net, then, standing up sharply, force it, making a “candle,” to hit the net and at that moment grab the long-awaited prey. There is more than enough adventure and excitement on such a hunt. Either several males will rush to the decoy at once and start a current without reaching the net, then a female will approach the decoy (such cases, although rare, do occur), then a quail that has flown in response to the call will sit on top of the net, then the seemingly captured male will leave from the hands and from under the net, leaving a few feathers as a consolation for the hunter. It’s impossible to count all the cases; the stories about them last for hours if the hunter meets an interested listener. The catcher’s attitude towards the captive is the most benevolent: having disentangled him from the net, he is ready to kiss him, and then he will pamper and cherish him, receiving in gratitude the incomparable sensations from the “fight” of a quail.

Hunters and lovers of quail “fighting” place high demands on the voice of their pets. Here is what M.A. Menzbir, professor at Moscow University, wrote, for example, at the beginning of the century: “The voice of quails, like a hunter, is divided into vavakanye, or mammy, and to a cry. There are such quails that never cry, but only mamachut, and hunters call them “mamaks”. The quail call consists of three special tribes: "rise", "delays" And "low tide". For the vast majority, that is, for bad quails, all the sounds of the cry merge into one hasty, somewhat whistling blow, which can be conveyed by sounds like “fwat-valvat” or “fwit-fwitfwit!” Such quails are called "clean grabbers" or "frequency grabbers". The dear quail can still scream loudly, although this is not a special advantage in him, but he absolutely cannot make many strikes at one time. A perfectly good quail often makes only one strike. There are also good quails "with a wheeze" And "no wheezing", but the very good ones always have the most complete, the most dull "wheezing".

In Central Asia, quail lovers have completely different requirements for “fighting,” which differ in different regions. Singing males are divided as follows. Paparak(tez otar) sings quickly and loudly, as lovers of this variety say, full, sonorous, in a pleasant voice. Birds with such a “song” are not found very often and are expensive. Tatalak begins the song with vavakaniya, and then immediately quickly switches to “ta-ta-lak” with a certain emphasis. Vavakaniye is a kind of beginning of singing, pronounced once or twice. The more and more often a bird pronounces the sounds “ta-ta-lak”, the more expensive it is. Some quails pronounce this sound up to 10-12 times, without a break between the first and second knee. U Khushtakchi, the song is reminiscent of the whistle “vit-vit”, “fit-fit”. These quails are especially valued in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya region. Salmoki do not sing as quickly and actively as the first two varieties. Their song is somewhat slow. Birds begin the “fight” with the sounds “ta-lak, ta-lak”, then make sounds like “pat-palak”. This variety is valued inexpensively among Tashkent and Fergana lovers, but among Khorezm lovers it is held in high esteem.

In Central Asia, the situation with quail hobbyism is quite favorable, and it is even developing. Many thousands of people, especially in rural areas, keep quails in their homes, which are a symbol of wealth and prosperity for them. Besides calling quails, also popular fighting, which sing poorly, but are distinguished by their large size and special build. Fighting cockerels are trained and fattened in a special way before entering the ring. There is an entire industry providing

covering all manifestations of quail hobbyism, even special rows in the most ordinary markets. Elderly people, having retired, often devote themselves entirely to their favorite business. I was really envious when I got acquainted with all this in Uzbekistan. ( View an interesting photo report about such battles - D.J.)

Unfortunately, in Russia the traditions of quail hunting described above and keeping common quails in homes have practically disappeared, partly due to a decrease in the number of birds, partly for socio-economic reasons. There are still people alive who, in their youth, caught quails and kept them for the sake of singing. The descendants of former lovers of netting and semolina keep them as priceless relics and will not part with them for any money, but the problem is that they are not used for their intended purpose, but only as illustrations for “legends of antiquity”, which, however, are not yet so deep.

Currently, due to a decrease in the intensity level agriculture, the number of common quail has stabilized and is beginning to grow in some places. God grant that this will contribute to at least a partial revival of Russian traditions!”

An article complements Anton Mezhnev's article Sergei Matveev"Catching quails with pipes", published in the newspaper "Five Hunts"(No. 4, 2006)

"Catching quails with pipes

Since ancient times in Rus' sparrowhawked- caught quails, luring males under a thin net spread on the grass using special tools - decoys. These instruments were called "pipes", "Vabilki" or "tales". There was even a special professional holiday sparrowhawks, which was celebrated in the summer on Methodius(July 3, new style). The decoy is used both to lure males and to detect them. Curls can be various designs, but they all imitate the calling cry of a female. For a long time, to this day, catching quails with a pipe has been used by fans of quail fighting, who keep males in cages. But they also use quail pipes to stimulate the birds in the cage to sing.

It is not uncommon, especially in spring and early summer, to have several quail calling in each field. There may be several dozen of them within the hearing range of the ordinary human ear!

Strike quails respond very well to the call and respond actively. Using a pipe, they lure the male under a hanging net or into an open place in order to then cover him with the net. Catching quails using decoys is an exciting activity. Hunting this way can be very rewarding. However, you can only lure when the bird is nearby and you are in its territory, 60-70 m ahead.
It is prohibited to hunt quails before August in Russia. However, catching quail for use as a decoy when training a dog is still practiced by hunters. Such one-time seizures do not cause much damage to the population, since the quail is polygamous, and the male does not take part in incubating and raising the brood.
Wabilka-pipe consists of a device for pumping air and a whistle tube. The tube is usually made 5-7 cm long and 7-10 mm in diameter. According to traditional technology, straight tubular bones (humerus or femur) of large birds - geese, herons, etc. - were used for the pipe. Later, metal and plastic began to be used to make pipes. But experts believe that they are not so good.

Air can be supplied to the pipe using special bellows. This fur is made from tanned leather, which is removed from the calf's tail. It is made using a special device and has the appearance of a corrugated tube, narrow on one side and wide on the other. Bellows are usually 10–14 cm long and have a diameter of 12–15 mm at the pipe, and about 30–50 mm at the blind end. The depth of the ring folds of the accordion is 2-8 mm.

One of the modern hunters-pipe players N.A. Andrusenko makes a tube for fur as follows.

For production, tanned leather is used, removed with a stocking from the tail of a young calf, no older than two months. A special matrix-form is prepared in advance. To do this, a cone about 200 mm long is turned from soft wood, with a diameter of 40-50 mm in the wide part and 10-15 mm in the narrow part. Having retreated 20 mm from the wide part of the matrix, a screw groove is carefully machined in increments of 5-8 mm. Its depth along the wide part of the cone is 7-8 mm, and towards the narrow part it decreases to 2-3 mm. As a result, a kind of carving is obtained on the surface of the wooden matrix. The soaked stocking of leather is pulled onto a cone, lubricated with grease or a similar lubricant, pressed into the matrix using a thick nylon thread along the thread and dried. When the skin is completely dry, the matrix is carefully unscrewed from the stocking, and the fur is ready.

One of the options could be like this. A small hole is drilled on the side of the tube, approximately in the middle, the size and shape of which changes during adjustment, for which putty is used. The putty should not dry out so that you can adjust the wobble at any time. A special threshold is made from it in front of the hole in the path of the air forced by the fur. Once upon a time, only wax was used for putty. Nowadays, plasticine is often used, but it is not entirely convenient, since warm weather becomes too soft.

The end of the pipe opposite to the fur is sealed tightly. When tuning the pipe, a small hole was made in it using a special narrow and thin metal plate or needle, if necessary. Since the decoy has to be adjusted in the field when hunting, such a plate is certainly carried along with the lure.

When tuning a quail pipe, they ensure that it reproduces the female’s cry as accurately as possible. The sounds made by the quail are expressed approximately as: “tyu-tyu”, “tyutyu”, “tyu-ryu”, “tiuriuriu”, “rryu-rryu”, “tyur-tyur”, and sometimes – “brit-vit”, "britbit", "bru-bru".

You can make a pipe in another way. A 2.5 mm hole is drilled in the tube, at a distance of 20-25 mm from the end. Up to this hole, the tube is filled with wax, and a channel for air is made in it. Then, covering the opposite end of the tube with a finger, they blow into this whistle, and, using the rod, moving the wax further from the hole made, then closer, they achieve a good ringing sound. After this, cover the free end of the tube with wax.

A leather fur is attached to the input end of the whistle using harsh threads and wax. From the opposite end it is hermetically sealed with a special stopper, and the skin is sewn or tied with thread over it.

A special thin rope or rope loop of such a size that you can thread your hand through it is tied to the accordion of fur from the blind end. You can drill a small hole in the cork for this. And the pipe is ready.

With certain skills, it is quite easy to extract an alluring sound from such a drum. It is held with the left hand, and with the right hand the fur is pulled through a rope loop. The loop is released, and when the fur is compressed, the pipe emits a short, gentle whistle - this is the first knee of the female’s cry. Without stopping, the bellows is squeezed, and the pipe emits a second note, which sounds almost the same as the first. Then the process is repeated.

N.A. Andrusenko uses a different technique for playing the weave. The pipe rope is wound around the index finger of the left hand so that there is about 3 mm of free play between the finger and the decoy plug. The thumb of the left hand is kept pressed to the rope wound around the bent index finger or slightly raised above it. Grasping, without blocking the outlet, with your thumb and forefinger right hand by the whistle, lightly but sharply squeeze and release the fur. In this case, the wide end of the fur hits the thumb left hand, and when squeezed with the free fingers of the right hand, lightly hit the bellows accordion. As a result, the pipe makes sounds similar to the warbling of a female. Of course, to work with a decoy, you need training.

Having made and configured the lure, the hunter can go out into the fields and meadows. The main thing in such a hunt is not in the number of quails caught, but in finding an outstanding screamer.

To lure your favorite quail, you need certain tactics. First, they try to quietly approach the soloist at 20-30 meters and listen carefully. According to observations of hunters with pipes, if a quail, along with the cry “sweat-weed!” constantly, repeatedly and clearly waaks, then he has already heard a female somewhere nearby, and it will not be possible to lure him. When he is just waving, it means that he is busy with the female, and it is useless to attract such a one. If you hear a bright, loud fight and rare “va-va”, then you can try to catch it. In this case, they sit down in the grass and quietly beckon. And since the female’s voice is not accurately conveyed by the decoy, they play the pipe only to the cry of the male. Having heard the cock, the male may remain silent for some time. They beckon him again, only even quieter. When the quail, in addition to “sing-weed!” begins to actively emit his “va-va” several times in a row, which means he believed the decoy. Then the net is spread over the tops of the plants, the hunter hides in the grass near one of its edges and begins to beckon.

It is more convenient to use nets in links or sections ranging in size from 2x5 to 3x8 m. Depending on the circumstances, use one net or make up a large one of several nets. The main condition for the catchability of such nets is their lightness. The mesh size of the net should be such that the head and shoulders of the quail can freely pass through it, approximately 4x4 cm. The net for catching quails used to be knitted from the thinnest and strongest threads and dyed in green. Now you can knit a net from a thin fishing line.

The net is hung loosely so that the bird gets confused and does not hit it. To ensure that the quail quickly gets entangled during takeoff, they land (straighten) the net. To do this, it is lifted slightly up by the loops from different sides away from the edges and released. At the same time, the network lies weakened, “posadistically”. It is best to stretch the net over grown winter or perennial grasses left over from last year on the stubble. Then the net gets tangled less than in weeds and bushes. The hunter usually hides right next to the edge of the net. At the same time, they try not to move and maintain silence.

As the quail fight gets closer and closer, they play the pipe more and more quietly. When the bird comes very close, they emit only one short and quiet warble. If the quail stopped shouting “va-va” and began to leave, it means he stopped trusting the pipe. It’s impossible to lure this one in anymore. At first, a quail may be wary of a net spread on the grass, but then, having gotten used to it, it will run under it. If the male does not fully trust the decoy, then he can go under the net in silence. Therefore, they carefully monitor whether the grass moves anywhere when the quail moves. Having lured him by playing the pipe under the net, and you can be sure of this when the male shouts under the net, they jump up sharply, forcing him to take off. When the bird hits the net and becomes entangled, they first try to press the net around it, and only then carefully untangle the prey.

You can hunt with a pipe and together. It's even more convenient. In this case, the piper hunter attracts the quail, choosing a convenient position about five meters from the net, and the assistant, hiding near it, scares the quail when it runs under the net.