20 LIEUT.-COLONEL SYKES ON THE 
upper coverts of the tail have also some yellow dots down the shafts, and the bars of 
the tail are more obscure than in the male. 
Like the last species, these birds have the feathers of the thighs, vent, and under 
tail, long and downy. 
Length of sexes 62, to 7 inches, inclusive of tail of 1-2, and 1,8, inch: bill to 
the gape, 14 to 14 inch; height at the nostrils, 2, to =, inch: tibie 1-2, to 148, inch: 
tarsi 1-4; to 1,8; inch: middle toe +2 inch, inclusive of nail of ;*, inch ; hind toe =, to 
+z inch, inclusive of nail of =, inch. 
These birds are met with only on the mountains, on the slopes and sides of which 
they rise in coveys from amidst reeds and long grass and brushwood, with the same 
startling whirl, uttering cries of alarm, as Cot. Argoondah. My specimens were shot at 
4000 feet above the sea. 
Some accident has placed out of my reach the notes of the internal organization of 
this species, but I have not any impression upon my mind that it differed materially 
from the other Quails examined. 
A male and female from the Himalayah mountains, belonging to the Zoological So- 
ciety, are characterized by the peculiarities of Cot. Pentah, and are undoubtedly identi- 
cal in species with it. Nevertheless, there are trifling discrepancies which are indicative 
of its distinct habitat ; namely, in the blackness of the bill, greyish cast of the rufous 
brown of the plumage above, in the deeper tint of the rufous of the throat in the male 
and female, and in the female being of a uniform rufous below: if anything, the size is 
also somewhat greater, being from 7,*, inches in the female to 7%, inches in the, male, 
inclusive of tail of 152, inch. 
In nine specimens of the same species from the Madras Presidency, probably from 
the table land of Mysore, the first feature is that of somewhat smaller size and less robust 
form than Cot. Pentah. Some of them have the black bill and greyish cast of the upper 
plumage of the Himalayan birds ; others the reddish dark brown bill and rufous cast of 
the brown plumage of those from Dukhun : all the males have the black transverse bars, 
and the females the uniform rufous tint below, of the Himalayan variety ; but three of 
the females have the deep rufous (almost dark chestnut or bay) throat of the male, while 
three others want this character. Six birds have the black blotches, yellow shafts, and 
imperfect yellow crosses on the scapulars and secondaries so characteristic of the Duk- 
hun and Himalayan birds ; while two others have the black blotches, but neither yellow 
crosses nor yellow shafts; and one specimen is destitute of black blotches, yellow 
crosses, and yellow shafts, Indeed, in two specimens only, and these are females, are 
the markings of the upper surface of the bird exactly like Cot. Pentah. One of the 
birds has so strong a cast of rufous above and below, has also so few spots of black 
on the scapulars and secondaries, and moreover has a bill approaching so nearly to 
