TURNICINiE. 599 



African species, T. nigricollis, Grael., and T. hottentotus, Temm., 

 probably belong to this group. 



2. — With more slender bills, the plumage beneath more or less 

 rufous with a few spots, not black-barred, restricted Turnix of 

 Bonaparte and Reichenbach. Sexes alike or nearly so. 



834. Turnix Dussumierii, Temminck. 



Hemipodius apud Temminck, PI. col. 454, f. 2 — BLvrn, Cat. 

 1530 — T. tancki, BucH. Hamilton apud Blyth, J. A. S. XII. 

 181, bis — T. joudera, Hodgson — figured, Beng. Sport Mag. 1838 

 pi. 1 f. 1. — Pedda daba gundlu, Tel. 



The Larger Button Quail. 



Descr. — Crown light brown, with blackish margins to the fea- 

 thers ; a central stripe on the crown ; the supercilia and ear-coverts 

 light fulvescent ; nape bright ferruginous ; back ashy brown, 

 tending to rufous, the feathers with dark cross bars, most marked 

 on the lower back and rump ; scapulars and some of the nearest 

 dorsal plumes with edgings of creamy yellow ; wing-coverts 

 light sandy brown, with a small black spot near the tip which is 

 margined with pale yellowish ; quills earthy brown, the primaries 

 narrowly edged with yellowish white ; chin and upper part of 

 throat white ; the rest of the lower parts ferruginous, deepest on 

 the breast and upper part of the abdomen. 



Bill yellow ; irides yellowish white ; legs deep yellow. Length 

 5^ to 6 inches ; wing 2| ; tarsus 1 ; bill at front \q. 



This large Button-quail (as this species and the next are named 

 by sportsmen in India) is found in open grassy glades in forests 

 or jungles, both on the plains, and more especially in hilly coun- 

 tries, and is also found in grass jungles throughout Bengal and 

 the countries to the eastward. It occurs throughout India in 

 suitable localities, rare in the bare Deccan and North-western 

 Provinces, not uncommon in open glades of the upland districts 

 of Malabar, in the Eastern Ghats and in lower Bengal. It is 

 always seen singly, in patches of long grass or thick cultivation, 

 flying but a short distance, and is very difficult to flush a second 

 time. 



