TUliNIX. I'J.-) 



Australian Ahiseuiii, the only specimen tliat was hiou'^'ht officially undei my notice, obtained in 

 the County of Cumberland, was a solitary adult male presented to the Trustees by Mr. A. M. N. 

 Rose, of C.implielltown, thirty-four miles south-west of Sydney. Hther specimens in the 

 collection procured in New South Wales were received from Mr. Ci. I^ercival, of Cioulburn, and 

 the late Mi. [. A. Thorpe, procureti by him near Bathurst. 



The late Mr. Henry Newcombe, of Kaiulwick, handed me the following note: — -'The 

 Swift Flying Turnix (Tunii.x wlo.vj is a remarkably scarce bird in the County of Cumberland, 

 and the writer has never come across more than a couple of these birds in all his tra\els, and 

 these were ba.i,'ged in the Water Reserve, now Centennial I'ark, Sydney. The skins are mounted 

 anti in a yood state of presei\ation." 



Mi. .\. M. X. Kose, of Campbelltown, writes me as follows : — "The Swift-flying Turnix 

 f / ;/; ;,■; i viI,k\ j is a remarkably rare species in this district. W'e used to know it as the ' Flyer ' 

 and the ' Yellow Tail ;' it lies cicse and Hies very fast. I ha\e only shot a few, and have not 

 seen one for years." 



Mr. Kobt. Grant, Taxidermist of the .Australian Museum, has handed me the following 

 note: — " I have shot Turnix ivlox in various parts of New South Wales, but more particularly 

 in the Bathurst, Mudgee and Locksley Districts; also in the grassy patches of the lower parts 

 of Diamond Hill Ridge, and in cleared ground along the banks of the Cudgegong Ri\er. This 

 Turnix lies close to the ground, and when flushed it flies with lightning-like speed for a distance 

 of about two hundred yards before dropping into concealment again. I have found its nest on 

 several occasions built under an overhanging tuft of grass, and usually with four eggs." 



While resident in the Mossgiel District, South-western New South Wales, in iSSh, the late 

 Mr. K. H. Bennett wrote : — " Turnix vclox is distinctly migratory, arriving about the end of 

 September and, after breeding, departing about the end of I'ebruary. Its numbers, however, are 

 greatly influenced by the state of the season, for when there is a good lainfall it appears in 

 considerable numbers, and during dry seasons it is correspondingly scarce. 1 ha\e ne\er known 

 a spring to pass without some of these birds putting in an appearance. When the plains are 

 clothed with an abundance of herbage, its nests are common, but in very dry seasons I am of 

 opinion it does not breed here at all, for I have never found a nest. Swift of flight as this bird 

 is, it is surpassed in that respect by its dreaded foe, the Black Falcon {Falco siihnis^cr), of which 

 it forms the chief prey. This species appears to be nocturnal, for I have frequently seen them 

 running about during inoonlight nights. Its note is extraordinarily loud for so small a bird, and 

 I have heard it chiefly at night. Four eggs are laid for a sitting. The young run about as soon 

 as they are hatched." 



Mr. Percy Peir wrote as follows fiom Campsie, near Sydney :—" During June, 1904,1 

 purchased a couple of pair of Turnix vclox said to have been obtained at Byrock. One pair 

 commenced nesting operations in August following; one egg was laid, when the birds were 

 set upon by a cock Stulilile Quail and k'illed. The other pair mysteriously disappeared from 

 the aviary, and up till now I ha\e not been able to obtain any more of these birds." 



L'r. W. .Macgillivray wrote as follows from Broken Hill, in Soiitli-western New South 

 Wales : — " Turnix vclox is widely distributed in the Gulf District of North Queensland; it is, in 

 a good season, very common on the Mitchell-grass plains. I have also met with it in \'ictoria 

 and in the Broken Hill District during a season when grass and herbage were abundant." 



From Melbourne, X'ictoria, Mr. G. .A. Keartland wrote me:— "The Swift-flying Turnix 

 (Turnix vclox) is numercjus throughout the whole of Central and North-western .Australia, and its 

 breeding period may be said to embrace nearly the whole year. In Central .Australia I captured 

 young ones in May, June and July; at Alelton, Victoria, where they are occasional visitors, eggs and 

 young were seen from .August to November. From Horsham I received newly hatched chickens 



