lustrous. They vary in -round colour from a faint yellowisli-white to a pale yellowish-brown, 

 over which is uniformly scattered irregular-shaped freckles, spots and conspicuous blotches of 

 rich umber-brown ; the larger markings on some are confluent, forming irregular-shaped patches 

 on dillerent parts of the shell ; in others the markings are smaller, or may have them confined 

 to one end, while frequently specimens may be found with a few of the markings in the form of 

 mote or less irregular-shaped rings; typically rich umber-brown is the predominant colour, but 

 they may be found from a brown to a blackish-brown hue, and very differently marked specimens 

 are occasionally found in the same set. 



A set of seven in the Australian Museum Collection, taken by Dr. K. P. Kanisay at 

 Macquarie Fields, twenty-seven miles from Sydney, measures :— Length (A) r.= x 0-94 inches; 

 (B) 1-24 X 0-95 inches; (C) i-2i x 0-94 inches; (D) 1-23 x 0-92 inches; (E) ri x 0-87 

 inches; (F) 1-27 < 0-95 inches; (G)ri7 x 0-17 inches. A set of seven taken by Mr. S. 

 Ivobinson on the 12th February, 1S96, on IJuckiinguy Station, near Nyngan, New South Wales, 

 measures:— Length (A) i-iS x 0-93 inches; (L!) 1-21 x o'95 inches; (C) rii x 0-9 inches; 

 (D) i-i8 X 0-87 inches: {E) ri x 0-92 inches; (F) 1-29 x 0-97 inches; (0)1-25 ^ 0-9 inches. 

 A set of seven taken by Mr. .Malcolm Harrison, at Glenorchy, on the Derwent Kiver, Tasmania, 

 measures:— Length (A) 1-2 x 0-9 inches ; (B) 1-13 x o-gS inches; (C) 1-23 x 0-91 inches; 

 (D) I-I2 x 0-87 inches; (L) 1-2 x 0-9 inches; (F) 1-2 x 0-9 inches; (G) 1-17 x o-gi inches. 



Almost as soon as hatched the young are able to run about. Should the brood be disturbed 

 the female gives a warning cry, and the downy little creatures promptly conceal themselves, 

 even in the most scanty cover. These birds live well in confinement, but the old males grow 

 very pugnacious during the breeding season. 



The breeding season in Eastern Australia is usually from September to the end of February, 

 but as has been previously pointed out, they have been found breeding in April and .August. 

 Apparently there is no fixed breeding season, and it is regulated principally by the food supply. 



The albino specimen figured on the opposite page was presented to the Trustees by Mr. W. 

 Davis, who sent it in the llesh from Blayney, New South Wales, on the loth March, 1910. With 

 the e.\ception of afew small brown feathers on the forehead, and .some of the feathers on the 

 right side of the breast having pale brownish tips, the entire plumage is snow-white. 



Syncecus australis. 



SWAMP QUAIL. 



Coturnu- aiintralU, Temui., Pig. et Gall., Tom. III., pp. 474, 740 (181.5). 



S,jnoicv.s australis, Gould, Bd.s. Austr, fol. Vol. V., pi. 89 (1848); id., Handbk. Bd.s. Austr Vol 

 IL, p. 193 (1365). 



SyiMcus australis. Grant, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXH., p. 247 (1893); Sharps, Hand-1. Bds., 

 Vol. L, p. 31 (1899). 



Adult male.— Feathers 0/ the upper parts greij in the middle, reddish-brown at the sides ami 

 transversely barred or mottled with black, each feather hacing a central white shaft stripe, the greyish 

 middle of the feather being almost lost vu the upper portion of the back ; primaries brown mottled with 

 pale rufous on their outer wbs ; secondari-s pale rufous-brown mottled with black ; scapulars and 

 upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers like the back ; centre of the forehead and of the croion of the head 

 brown, conspicuously and closely spotted on both webs with black, with a line of white down the centre 



