198 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



having the upper-parts blackish-brown washed with slate ; the 

 upper tail-coverts and wing-coverts chestnut, the latter with 

 slate-grey shaft-stripes ; the under-parts dark slate-grey, except 

 the sides and flanks, which are bright chestnut. Total length, 

 5-2 inches; wing, 2-9-3; tail, i*i ; tarsus, o-8. 



Younger Males have the middle of the back blotched with 

 black, but in the more adult examples these marks disappear. 



Adult Female. — Very similar to the female of E. Ii?ieata, but 

 the wing-coverts are more strongly barred with black. The 

 females of this species appear to average rather larger than the 

 males, the wing measuring 3*i-3-2 ; but we have not examined 

 a very large series of birds. 



Range. — Africa, souih of about 5° north latitude. 



Habits. — Adanson's Painted Quail has a very wide distribu- 

 tion in Africa, being found in suitable localities over the 

 greater part of that vast continent. 



It is rather a rare bird, and its habits appear to be very 

 similar to those of its eastern ally, E. chinensis. 



