principle noun (IDEA) C1 [ C ] a basic idea or rule that explains or controls how something happens or works: the principles of the criminal justice system. The country is run on socialist principles. The machine works according to the principle of electromagnetic conduction.
A quail is a ground bird who seldom flies. It prefers to run in ground cover and nests in that same ground cover. It is a smallish bird, generally weighing less than two pounds. 1. a small, migratory, gallinaceous game bird, Coturnix coturnix, of the Old World. 2. any of several other birds of the genus Coturnix and allied genera. 3. any of various New World gallinaceous game birds of the genus Colinus and allied genera, esp. the bobwhite. A quail is a ground bird who seldom flies. It prefers to run in ground cover and nests in that same ground cover. It is a smallish bird, generally weighing less than two pounds. 1. a small, migratory, gallinaceous game bird, <i>Coturnix coturnix,</i> of the Old World. 2. any of several other birds of the genus <i>Coturnix</i> and allied genera.
common name for a variety of small game birds related to the partridge, pheasant, and more distantly to the grouse. There are three subfamilies in the quail family: the New World quails; the Old World quails and partridges; and the true pheasants and seafowls. No species of New World quail is migratory, but some Old World quail represent the only migratory species of the order.