NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 729 



brown above ; sides of liu;ul, breast, aud fl;uiks arc bluish-grey ; throat 

 patched with black ;uid white, abdouieu deep chestnut-red, bill black, 

 feet light browu, eyes hazel. Length, 4^ inches; wing, 2| inches, bill, 

 7-lG inch; Uirsus, 'l inch. 



According to the season many of thei Chestnut-bellied or Least Swamp 

 Quail (least indeed, for it is the smallest of game birds in the world), 

 reach their southern hmit, Victoria, during spring and summer, and 

 breed, retiring noithward again on the approach of winter. 



When c;imped in the e;u'ly days in the cUstrict of MordiaUoc, Victoria, 

 the '' Old Bushman " found the httle Chestnut-bellied Quail somewhat 

 xincommou. He generally noticed them in pairs or families in the long 

 grass on the edges of the swamps, often in the water of the swamps 

 themselves. He occasionally flushed them in the heath-like scrub. 

 They bred in the district, and if they cUd not remain all the winter, they 

 left for a veiy short period oul}'. 



The birds aie more plentifid in some pai-ts of Queensland. 

 Mr. Cockeroll infonned Mr. Sylvester Diggles that he had shot fifty 

 brace in one paddock of 100 acres in a fortnight. They are reckoned 

 scarce, because the birds, as a rule, sit very close, and wiU almost suffer 

 themselves to be trodden upon before rising. Mr. Diggles mentions 

 that the nest has a small nni leading to it, and sometimes the stiiictui'e 

 is sufficiently strong to allow the eggs to be lifted in it. 



In New South Wales, according to Dr. Ramsay (" Ibis," 1868) " the 

 Least Swamp Quail is foimd tolerably abmidant in the marshy parts about 

 Botany Bay and South Head, in which situations it breeds freely, reaiing 

 often three broods in the year. It usually lays five eggs, in shape 

 resembling those of Synosciis australis (Latham), but much smaller in 

 size, being 1-1 inches in length by '8 inch in breadth, and, when fresh, 

 of a pale light green colom*, dotted all over with blackish umber; in 

 some the gi'oimd colom- is a dirty olive-yellow, others, again, are almost 

 brown, with black dots. This species is known to oiu: Sydney sportsmen 

 under the name of the ' King Quail,' and is by most people considered 

 a rare, bird ; but if its natural haunts be visited it will be foimd plentiful 

 enough, although hard to ' rise.' It shows preference for the long grass 

 in low, damp situations, particularly bordering swamps and lagoons. 

 The nest is like that of the rest of the family, — a few pieces of grass, upon 

 which the eggs are laid ; but on the whole greatly depending on the 

 nature of the gi'ound. The breeding season lasts from August to 

 January ; but in confinement they wiU lay at almost any time of the 

 year. The young, upon leaving the shell, are of a dusky hue, almost 

 black." 



Breeding season, from September to February, and sometimes the 

 autumn months, Mr. Harry Barnard has observed that March and 

 April are the iisual breeding months in Central Queensland for this 

 Quail. 



The young, in down, are tiny creatures, in colour resembling the 

 mother bird, but with yellowish throats instead of whitish or light 

 coloured. 



