QUAILS AND HEMIPODIL OF INDIA. 21 
that of Cot. dactylisonans, although with a rounded wing, that I should have hesitated 
to consider it of the same species as the other birds, had it not formed part of the same 
batch. From these anomalies I would scarcely pledge myself that Cot. Argoondah and 
Cot. Pentah are absolutely distinct species: but my observations enable me to say that 
there are reasonable grounds for believing them to be distinct. 
The above notices of the variations in plumage in twenty-two specimens of the same 
species from three distinct localities, afford ample proof of the extreme caution requi- 
site in instituting species in consequence of the absence of certain markings, or on va- 
riations in plumage and type. Even in those birds of widely separated countries, which 
resemble each other in every respect excepting in some permanent blotch or blotches of 
black or white or other colour, or in certain band or bands, I would consider them 
rather varieties of the same species than distinct species, and would denominate them, 
from their locality, the China, Dukhun, Himalayan, or Cape variety. 
M. Temminck! has given drawings of the Perdiw Cambayensis. He says, ‘‘ L’article 
que nous publions ici peut servir de preuve nouvelle que les publications trop précoces 
nuisent plus ou moins a l’étude de Vhistoire naturelle.” The accidental loss of a nail 
to the hind toe of a specimen induced him to consider it a Cryptonyx. I notice the 
drawings here because they resemble very much my Cot. Pentah, and yet have some of 
the characters of Cot. Argoondah. The drawings differ from my birds in having a white 
line down each feather on the back instead of the yellow cross I have described ; in yel- 
low instead of reddish-yellow legs ; in the lower mandible being yellow instead of brown, 
and in the upper mandible brown instead of reddish fuscous. The colourings appear 
to me to be too strongly marked. It is stated to be from Bengal, but no account is 
given of its habits. I am not quite satisfied that my bird is not intended. M. Temminck’s 
bird, however, is only 5,3, to 6 inches long, whilst mine is nearly 7 inches. 
Genus Hemreopius, Reinw. 
1. Hemreopius puenax, Temm. 
M. Temminck’s coloured figure of this bird?, which he obtained from Java, gives a 
very good idea of it; and his detailed description in the ‘ Pigeons et Gallinacés’, 
is sufficiently close not to require modification: the only omissions appear to me to be 
the mention of the yellowish white margins of the end of each feather on the back, and 
of the rufous of the mid-belly being separated from the black and yellowish white bars of 
the breast by a defined line. It is necessary to notice also the very rich character of the 
plumage above, consisting of a multitude of bars of chestnut, velvet black, and yellow 
white or straw colour. 
\ Pl. Col. 447. fig. 1 & 2. 2 Pl. Col. 60. fig. 2. 3 tom. iii. p. 617. 
