THE PAINTED QUAILS. I95 



aggregations of the Common Quail, and I totally disbelieve 

 Latham's story of their going about in Sumatra in ' flocks of a 

 hundred birds,' or in any sort of flocks or coveys except just 

 after the breeding-season, when the two old birds, with their 

 four to six young ones, do keep in a covey. 



" Open, swampy, grassy lands or meadows are their favourite 

 haunts, and I doubt whether they are ever found far from such. 

 They will, doubtless, wander into low bush-jungle, the edges 

 of low-standing crops, and, as Jerdon says, into patches of 

 grass along the sides of roads ; but this is almost exclusively 

 when feeding in the early mornings and evenings, or when 

 their meadow-homes have been suddenly flooded. 



"They come freely into the open when feeding, and in the 

 early mornings may be seen gliding along by the sides of roads 

 and paths, picking about and scratching here and there, taking 

 little notice of passengers, and either running on before them 

 if not pressed, or just hiding up in the nearest tuft of grass, to 

 emerge again as soon as the traveller has got ten or fifteen 

 yards beyond their hiding-place. 



"Their call is a very low, soft, double-whistled note, com- 

 paratively rarely heard except when a pair has been separated. 

 Then, indeed, almost the moment the male has lit he begins 

 calling to his mate. They feed quite silently, and, if they have 

 seen and are expecting you, rise quite silently also ; but both 

 sexes, if suddenly alarmed, and females when startled from 

 their nests, rise with a low, shrill, rapidly-repeated chirp, * tchi^ 

 ichti tchiJ Their flight is very fast, straight, and low, rarely 

 more than a foot above the tops of the grass, and is continued 

 for from fifty to seventy yards, afl'ording an excellent shot. 

 Indeed, they fly so fast that, in places where they are abundant, 

 they must, I should think, afford excellent sport. Always, be 

 it understood, if you have small dogs to flush them ; for with- 

 out dogs, though you may or may not be able to start them at 

 once, you will certainly not succeed in putting them up a 

 second time. 



O 2 



