302 GROUSE. 



surface of the ground, under the shelter of a tuft of grass. The 

 female lays four eggs. 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The African Bush Quail {Turnix A/iicanus). This turnix is a small 

 bird resembUng the quail both in size and plumage, but well distinguished by 

 the absence of a hind toe. It is found in many parts of Sicily and Spain, and 

 stragglers are sometimes seen in the plains of Languedoc; it is met with also 

 in the north of Africa, especially among the thickets and dwarf palms of Mount 

 Atlas. The birds of this sub-family are inhabitants of the intertrojiical regions 

 of the Old World : two species, it is true, have been discovered in the southern 

 parts of Europe, but in such limited numbers as to prove satisfactorily that 

 the northern part of Africa is their true habitat ; consequently, the southern 

 parts of Spain, Italy, and the islands of the Mediterranean are among the 

 utmost limits of their range northwards. They differ from the true quails 

 (Coturnix) in the total absence of the hind toe, and in the long and slender 

 form of their bills. These are the most diminutive birds of the (Gallinaceous 

 tribe, being not more than half the size of the common quail. They are poly- 

 gamous, and they give a preference to sterile lands and the confines of deserts, 

 over which they run with surprising quickness. 



The Button Quail {I'urnix Sykesii) is the most diminutive game bird in 

 India, where it is everywhere to be met with in grass or corn-fields, or wherever 

 there is thick herbage ; it seems, however, to avoid hilly or forest districts. It 

 is flushed with great difficulty, often getting up at the feet of the sportsman, 

 when it flies for a few yards and drops down again into the grass, where it can 

 only be found again after a most laborious search, and sometimes it allows 

 itself to be caught with the hand or by a dog. Its name of Z^fl^/Cv or "squatter" 

 is given from this habit. 



Sub- Family IV. 



THE AMERICAN PARTRIDGES. ODONTOPHORIN/E.* 



Genf.ral Characteristics.— Bill short, more or less compressed on the sides, and 

 the cidmen generally elevated at the base and arched to the lip, which is obtuse, 

 and prolonged over that of the lower mandiljle — the margin is bidentated on each 

 side; the nostrils basal, and placed in a short and rounded groove, with the opening 

 covered by a membranous scale ; the wings moderate, concave, and rounded ; the 

 tail more or less long, broad, and rounded ; the tarsi generally slender, long, and 

 covered by divided scales; the toes long, and the inner shorter than the outer toe; 

 the claws moderate, slightly curved, and acute. 



The Odontophorinae are found in the tropical parts of the new 

 continent. They frequent the forests or thick woods, especially 

 those that border upon rivers. Their usual food consists of grain 



*bho\>%, bhbvro%, odous, odontos, a ioolli; ^^pw, phero, to cony: having the bill toothed. 



