152 ALLEN S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



the many male birds from S. Africa and Southern Europe, &c., 

 in which the white parts on the sides of the head and throat are 

 more or less suffused with the bright rufous-chestnut charac- 

 teristic of the resident bird. 



A curious variety or scmi-melanistic form of C. coturnix 

 occurs in Spain in the marshy neighbourhood of Valencia, 

 A male in the British Museum has the general colour of the 

 plumage black, and the female has the under-parts suffused 

 with sooty-brown. 



Range. — Africa, Europe, and Asia, except in the south-east 

 portion. 



Haljits. — The migratory habits of this species are well-known 

 to most people, but though the great majority— countless hosts 

 of Quail, which may be numbered by millions rather than 

 thousands — shift their quarters in September and October, on 

 the approach of winter, and move southwards, in many places 

 a certain number remain and spend the winter where they have 

 bred. For instance, in the South of England and Ireland, 

 and in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, a few re- 

 main to winter, but the bulk of the European summer visitors 

 betake themselves by various lines of migration to South 

 Africa, from whence they return in March and April of the 

 following spring. Enormous numbers also winter in India, 

 crossing the Himalayas from Central Asia, while many arrive 

 in Sind and Guzerat from the west, moving southwards from 

 Beluchistan, Persia, and other northern latitudes. 



The number of migrants varies greatly in different years, tht^r 

 movements being largely, if not entirely, regulated by the food- 

 supply and seasonal conditions of the countries which they 

 visit. 



One may form some idea of the vast number to be met 

 with in some parts of India from the following remarks by 

 Tickell. He says : " In such localities as have been above 

 noticed, Quails at times abound to such a degree that shooting 

 them is mere slaughter. Where birds get up at every step dogs 



