260 INDIAN SPORTING BIRDS 



Comtnon Quail. 



Goturnix communis. Bater, Hindustani. 



When Marco Polo had travelled in India, he ventured on the 

 observation that all the birds and beasts there were different 

 from those of Europe, except the quail ; and though, as we all 

 know, this is by no means correct, it is nevertheless striking to 

 find a bird so well known in Europe as the quail also equally 

 familiar in the East. There are, however, several little game- 

 birds which go by the name of quail in India, and it is as well to 

 point out the distinctions of this species, which is the original 

 quail, from all the rest. In the first place, it is distinguished 

 from most of them by having such a very indistinct tail, the real 

 tail-feathers being so soft and so exactly like those of the rest of 

 the hind-parts, that it is difficult to sort them out, as it were ; 

 this character is also found in the button-quails, which are not 

 true quails at all, but these only have three toes instead of the 

 usual four. The soft tail and four-toed feet will, then, distinguish 

 the common quail from all familiar quail-like birds except its allies 

 the rain and painted quails, and it is larger than either of these, 

 to say nothing of other differences ; the closed wing measures at 

 least four inches, whereas it does not attain this length even in 

 the rain-quail, while the painted quail is far smaller again than 

 this. The distinctions of the rare Japanese quail will appear 

 later. 



There is nothing very noteworthy in the general plumage of 

 the common quail ; it is often called grey quail, but the name 

 is misleading, as the plumage is not grey or even greyish, but 

 light brown, well variegated with black, and diversified above by 

 well-marked longitudinal streaks of cream-colour. The pinion- 

 quills of the wing are drab, barred with buff, and this is the chiet 

 distinction from the rain-quail, in which these quills are uniform 

 drab with no markings. 



The difference between the sexes is not apparent on the 

 upper plumage, but is noticeable enough below, where the cock 

 is a plain clear uniform buff, with the throat marked with sooty- 

 black on a whitish or brownish-red ground. In the hen the 



