QUAILS. 



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the land. The female lays from eight to twelve eggs. About six species are gener- 

 ally included by ornithologists in this genus; one, C. delegorgiiei, from Africa; 

 C. coromandelica, from India, known as the rain-quail ; C. pectoralis, from Australia ; 

 C. novce-zelandioe, as its name implies, from New Zealand ; C. caineana, from China, 

 and C. communis. They are all similar in size and appearance, and a description of 

 the habits of one species would practically answer for all. 



Australia possesses a genus of quails peculiar to itself, Synoicus, containing 

 four species. They vary in length from six and one half to eight and one half inches; 

 of a dark-brown color on the back, transversely barred with gray, black, and chestnut; 

 the under surface grayish-buff or gray, with black zig-zag markings. These, like the 

 species of quail generally, migrate but slightly, if at all, and keep in coveys, flying but 



a short distance after being flushed. 



FIG. 94. Rollulus roulroul, red-crested wood-quails. 



The bush-quails are contained in the genera Perdicula, Ophrysia, and Microperdix, 

 represented by about six species. They are distributed throughout various portions 

 of India in the thick jungles and bushy tracts, keeping in coveys usually of from six 

 to ten individuals, lie very close, and fly but a short distance when disturbed, and live 

 from the level of the sea to eight thousand feet of elevation. One species, Perdicula 

 raaltenii, appears td be restricted to the island of Timor. 



The painted-quails are a group of very small birds (one species, E. minima, from 

 Celebes, being the smallest game-bird known), and have been gathered together into 

 a separate genus, Excalfactoria. They are very pretty birds, the sexes being quite 

 dissimilar in plumage, and are residents of various parts of India, Malay Peninsula, 

 Ceylon, China, Celebes, Philippines, Australia, New Guinea, the Duke of York Islands, 

 and west Africa. The best known, E. chinensis, the blue-breasted quail, is an 



