COTURNIX. 461 
Genus COTURNIX. 
The Quails were included by Linneus in his genus Te¢rao, but in 1790 
Bonnaterre established the genus Coturniz for their reception in the 
‘Tableau Encyclopédique et Méthodique des trois Régnes de la Nature’ 
(i. p. 217). The Common Quail (the Tetrao coturniz of Linneus) must 
of necessity be the type. 
The Quails may be distinguished by their long pointed wings and very 
short tail. They are birds of small size. The tarsus is scutellated in 
front, reticulated behind, and is generally without a spur. The nostrils 
are bare of feathers. 
There are about twenty species of Quails, which are distributed through- 
out the Old World, with the exception of the Arctic Region. One species 
only is European, which is a regular summer visitor to the British Islands. 
The Quails resemble the Partridges in their habits. They are ground- 
birds, fond of skulking amongst the herbage, and are more or less gre- 
garious. Many of the species are migratory, and journey to and from 
their breeding-grounds in immense flocks. Upon the ground they walk 
and often run with great spéed: their flight is very quick and whirring, 
but is seldom prolonged. Their notes are shrill and monotonous. Their 
food consists principally of small seeds and insects. They are-both poly- 
gamous and monogamous. ‘Their nests are mere depressions in the ground, 
in which are scraped a few bits of grass, leaves, &c.; and their eggs are 
numerous, olive-green or yellow, sometimes spotted and blotched with 
brown. 
