732 



!i/ESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Dimensions in inches of proper chitclies (round) ; (1) 1'12 x -95, 

 (2) 1-12 X -94, (3) 1-1 X -92, (4) 1-08 x -9 ; (pointed); (1) 1-26 x -9, 

 (2) 1-23 X -9, (3) 1-19 X -89, (4) 1-19 x -88; a West Australian set: 

 (1) 1-1 x -9, (2) 1-09 X -88, (3) 1-09 x -88. (Plate 18.) 



Ohserratidiis. — The Painted Quail has the upper siuia«e rich nifous- 

 brown, most of the feathers being mai-ked or striped transversely with 

 chestnut and black. On the wings each feather is spotted with black 

 and white ; under surface yellowish- white and bill brownish ; eyes, 

 reddish ; legs and feet yellowish. Total length, 8 inches ; wing, 4 inches ; 

 bill, I inch ; and tarsus, | inch. The Painted Quail family or Turinxes 

 possess no hind toeSj hence were first called Hemipodes. This fact 

 will sometimes aid persons in identifying Quails. Gould gives the 

 average weight (Tasmanian specimens) of this Quail at five ounces, 

 remarking that the birds on the mainland were smaller if anything. 



The Painted Quail, although fomid in the same places as other 

 Quails, is more local, and prefers sandy and somewhat sterile tracts. 

 It has been recorded for most collecting localities throughout Australia, 

 including Tasmania, and King Island. At the latter place we secured 

 specimens during the visit of the Field Naturahsts' Club, November, 1887. 

 " Old Busliman " says although you may occasionally kill an odd one 

 dm-ing the winter in the Mordialloc district of Victoria, the majority of 

 them come in September and leave in March. 



The Painted Quail iims much upon the groimd, and when on the 

 wing has a wavering flight ; it is, therefore, somewhat difficult to shoot. 

 It is reckoned intennediate in size .between the Stubble and Brown 

 Quails, but it is probably equal in weight (about foui" and a half ounces) 

 to the latter bird. The call of the Painted Quail is a " coo " like a 

 pigeon, but twice repeated, and is frequently heard i-ising from the heath 

 dmnng the pairing season, and sometimes through the night. 



I possess distinct recollections of the first pretty set of Painted Quail's 

 eggs I found as a boy. The locality was in the reserve near the Botanical 

 Gardens, Melbourne. It was on Boxing Day, 1861 or 1862. I flushed 

 the bird from her nest, but left the eggs undistiu-bed. I was exceed- 

 ingly loath to do so, for I feared they would be trodden wider foot 

 by some picnickers who were arriving. 



The last set of eggs I chanced to find was upon the bare ground 

 (there may have been a semblance of a nest in the shape of a few grass 

 stalks) in open scnib near the shore of Lake King, Gippsland, in 

 October, 1881. 



I have the reliable, testimony of Mi\ Hairy Bai-nard that in Queens- 

 land he has noticed several clutches of the Painted Quail just hatching 

 in April, or when the grass seeds are ripening. 



In the light of oui- later knowledge we had better agree in assigning 

 Speckled Tumix (Turnix scintiUans, Govdd) to tlie synonym of the 

 Painted Quail. The western bird is a very beautiful species, inhabiting 

 Houtman's Abrolhos, as well as otlier portions of the west mainland. 

 It was tolerably abundant on the East and West Wallaby Islands. 

 Gould describes the bird as being smaller; while its colouiing is much 

 lighter, more varied and sparkling than its eastern representative — the 

 ordinary Painted Quail. 



