THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 87 



bright brown ; the eyelids plumbeous ; the maxilla dark horn brown ; 

 the mandible fleshy, more horny at the tip; the rictus fleshy; the feet 

 and toes deep yellow ; the claws light horny brown. 



The plumage of this species is somewhat variable, especially in 

 the extent of the different colors. The male may be described as 

 having the crown light brown, marked in the center with black; the 

 front, supercilium, and a line from the base of the bill below the 

 ear coverts black; the upper back black, spotted with white; the lower 

 back and tail narrowly barred black and white ; the shoulder coverts 

 and scapulars chestnut, marked with black and white; the rest of the 

 wing black, with white spots and bars; the throat and ear coverts 

 pure white ; the breast and upper abdomen black, closely covered with 

 roundish white spots; the lower abdomen plain buff; the under tail 

 coverts chestnut. The female is similar to the male, but is duller 

 everywhere, and has the underparts, excepting the white throat, 

 barred black and buffy white. 



COTURNIX COTURNIX JAPONICA Temminck and Schlegel 



Japanese Migratory Quail 



Coturnix vulgaris japonica Temminick and Sohlegel, in Siebold, Fauna 



Japonica, Aves, 1849, p. 108, pi. 61 (Japan). 

 Coturnix coturnix japonica, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, 



p. 79 (Chiang Mai). 



The Japanese quail seems to be a species of extreme rarity in Thai- 

 land; the only northern example is a female taken by me at Chiang 

 Mai, October 31, 1935. 



My bird was found on a patch of short grass surrounded by stand- 

 ing rice and, when started, flew off rapidly, to be dropped by a wing 

 shot. The stomach contained only seeds. 



It had the irides bright brown; the bill horn-brown; the feet and 

 toes flesh ; the claws dark horn. 



In the male of this quail, the feathers at the sides of the throat are 

 soft and rounded at the tip; in the female, they are somewhat elon- 

 gated, acute, and stiff. 



The male has the upperparts mixed rufous, brown, and black, with 

 a narrow, longitudinal creamy streak bisecting the crown, and many 

 elongated, lanceolate creamy streaks elsewhere; the face and throat 

 vinaceous ; the breast rufous-buff with whitish shaft streaks ; the re- 

 maining underparts pale buff, with broad rufous streaks along the 

 flanks. The female has the upperparts as in the male; the under- 

 parts pale buff, the breast more deeply colored and spotted with 

 rufous and black. 



In the field the Japanese quail might easily be mistaken for a hemi- 

 pode; in the hand it can be recognized by its flesh-colored feet and 



