NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 735 



The Little Quail is found or has been recorded throughout Aus- 

 traha in general. 



Gould records it as strictly migratory, but I think observations will 

 tend to prove that it is merely a wanderer, moving about according to 

 the seasons. If there is a good season in the interior, tlicn the birds 

 are scarce near the sea-board; on the contrary, if drought dry up the 

 interior, then the Little Quails as well as other varieties are plentiful 

 towards coastal regions. One exceptionally good all-round Quail 

 season we had in Victoria was 1888, when a sportsman shot, within a 

 radius of fifty miles of Melboiume, no less than 813 brace of vai-ious 

 kinds. 



The year 1899 was an extraordinary season for Quails in the Mallee 

 district of Victoria. It is reported that during May, June, and July, 

 no less than 2,800 birds were shot in one gi-ass paddock of about 1,000 

 acres. They were chiefly the Little, the Painted, and the Stubble 

 Quail. 



The Little Quail appears to prefer open dry ridges, thinly clothed 

 with grass, in the inteiior provinces. 



The Little Quail is one of the earliest breeders of its family, the 

 season usually commencing in September and lasting to the close of 

 the year, i.e., as far as southern parts are concerned, but elsewhere the 

 breeding time is probably regulated by the season, in the interior for 

 instance, as the following field note, received from Mr. T. Carter, 

 Western Australia, proves : " Foimd species of Quail, or Tumix 

 (probably T. velo.r), laying in great numbers on the Minilya, about 

 10th Augvist, 1890." Again, at Point Cloates, April and May, 1898, 

 " the swift-flying Tumix was breeding eveiywhere." 



Most persons are mterested in Quail. Subjoined axe Mr. Keartland's 

 interesting observations of the Little species in the far North-west : 

 " These birds aie found in North-west Australia throughout the year, 

 frequenting alike the Flinders and Mitchell grass plains, the spinifex 

 of the desert, and the tall kangaroo grass along the creek flats, but are 

 most numerous near the junction of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers. 

 At the latter place they get the credit of eating off the young plants 

 in the gardens of the settlers as soon as they show above grovmd. 

 Whether the charge is a just one I cannot say, but I was taken into 

 the garden by Mr. Harris to see some young melon and cucumber 

 plants that had just come up. On approaching the cuciunber bed, 

 three of these birds flew away, and we found that nearly all the plants 

 had been eaten off. The bird may be driven to this practice by the 

 scarcity of green food, which they take in conjunction with seeds and 

 insects. After rain falls they become exceedingly numerous in the 

 green grass which immediately springs up. As these birds are only 

 occasional visitors to the southern portions of the Continent, it is 

 highly probable they are driven south by protracted drought. They 

 seem to breed nearly all through the year, four eggs being the usual 

 complement." 



