722 NESTS ANV EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Eggs. — Clutch, seven to eleven or twelve, rare instances maximum 

 fourteen ; roundish oval in shape ; texture somewhat coarse ; sm-facc 

 glossy; colour, dirty-yellow, heavily blotched and smudged with dark 

 olive-green. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch : (1) 1-27 x -91, 

 (2) 1-27 X -9, (3) 1-25 X -93, (4) 1-25 x -88, (5) 1-22 x "91, (6) 1-22 x -92, 

 (7) 1-19 x -88. (Plate 17.) 



Observations. — The Stubble Quail may be said to be the only true 

 Quail in Australia. As its name imphes, it frequents grassy or stubble- 

 like localities on plain or in forest aUke, and is found thi-oughout 

 Austraha, except perhaps the extreme north, and Tasmania. 



It is a line bird, with its brown coat, the feathers being zig-zagged 

 transversely with lines of black, and striped down the centre with 

 spear-Uke markings of yellowish-white. The chest and flanks are 

 brown, while the abdomen is whitish ; feet also whitish, bill dark, and 

 eyes hazel. Total length about 6j inches; bill, \ inch; wing, 3 J 

 inches ; tarsus, | inch. The male is readily distinguished from the female 

 by the black markings on his chest and his buff-coloured throat, the 

 throat of the female being white. Two brace of both sexes presented 

 to me by a friend at the opening of last season weighed 15 ounces 

 total. 



During his rambles in Australia, Gould frequently found nests and 

 eggs of this Quail, remarking that " the number of eggs in each nest 

 varies from eleven to fourteen. The situations chosen for the nest 

 arc much diversified ; sometimes it is placed among the thick grass 

 of luxuriant flats, while at others it is aiifully concealed by a tuft of 

 herbage on the open plains." 



I possess pleasant recollections of my first experiences amongst the 

 Stubble Quail, when long ago, as boys, we used to find their eggs in 

 the crops on the plain, or imder rank tussock grass that clothed the 

 banks of the Werribee River. So plentiful were they one season that 

 we captured some of the birds themselves, not to mention maimed 

 birds that had survived the shot of the fowler and escaped liis dogs. 



Mr. C. H. Grove, Snowy River, Gippsland, sent me the following 

 interesting note, together with the clutch of seven Stubble Quail's 

 eggs: — "Bird commenced to lay 30th November (1891), and laid for 

 seven consecutive days, the smallest egg (a brownish-coloured example) 

 being the last. The nest on the first day was a bare hole scraped in 

 the ground, but after the eggs were all laid some slight attempt was 

 made at hning it." 



In Southern Victoria, before the Quails were disseminated or dis- 

 tributed, " Old Bushman " (the late H. W. Whcelwiight), in liis 

 fascinating little volume, " Bush Wanderings of a Natiu-aUst," remarks 

 that he observed the Stubble Quail come down about the middle of 

 September, and remain to breed, and early in Fcbi-uai-y they all appeared 

 to leave the breeding groimds, but not the district, for they then packed, 

 and in certain localities large flocks were to be seen Iat« in March. 

 The call-note of the Stubble Quail is a loud, oft-repeated " to-wcop." 

 the native name of the bird. Their note as they rise is a sharp chirp 

 Sportsmen regard the bird as easy to kill on account of its sti-a.ight 

 flight. 



