234 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
forming a wing patch ; quills sepia-brown, with ashy or dull rufous margins? and 
slightly paler ends, the first primary externally whitish, the next ones edged with 
hoary-grey, inner secondaries spotted with white, like the coverts ; head pale slaty- 
grey with a line of chestnut feathers on each side of the crown which are barred with 
black ; sides of face and ear-coverts ashy-grey spotted with minute specks of white ; 
chin white followed by buff on the throat which spreads over the breast, where it is 
washed more or less with ashy-grey ; on the sides of the body the feathers are vinous- 
chestnut edged with pale grey ; abdomen whitish, more or less suffused with buff ; 
flanks and under tail-coverts sandy-buff ; under wing-coverts, axillaries and the 
under aspect of quills pearly-grey with a certain amount of pale vinous on the under 
wing-coverts ; the margin of the wing below is dotted with black; bill brown ; iris 
yellow ; feet yellow. Total length 190 mm.; culmen, from base of skull, 21, wing 
106, tail 42, tarsus 25. 
The only known specimen of this bird is the type which is in the Tring Museum. 
Immature, Nest, Eggs and Distribution —Unknown. 
159. Austroturnix castanotaa—CHESTNUT-BACKED QUAIL. 
Gould, Vol. V., pl. 85 (pt. x11.), Dee. Ist, 1848. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 1, pl. 16, Oct. 31st, 
1910. 
Hemipodius castanotus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1839, p. 145, March 1840: Port 
Essington, Northern Territory. 
Turniz castanota magnifica Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 181, Jan. 3lst, 1912: East 
Kimberley, North-west Australia. 
Turnix castanota melvillensis Mathews, Austral Ay. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 27, April 2nd, 1912: 
Melville Island, Northern Territory. 
Turnix castanota alligator Mathews, ib.: South Alligator River, Northern Territory. 
DistriBuTION.—Northern Territory. North-west Australia. 
Adult female—General colour above vinous-chestnut, the feathers edged on 
either web with white, producing a streaked appearance; these white marginal 
lines accompanied by an inner line of black ; towards the end of the feathers some 
more or less broken bars of black ; lower back, ramp and upper tail-coverts, dull 
vinous-chestnut shaded with ashy-grey, and having nearly obsolete blackish bars ; 
scapulars like the back, but with somewhat broader white margins externally ; 
wing-coverts vinous-chestnut, the marginal coverts edged with black, the median 
and greater series slightly ashy-grey on the edges, and having ovate spots of white, 
bordered with black on their upper margins ; primary-coverts and quills sepia-brown, 
almost black, with narrow rufescent edges, the first primary whitish along the 
outer web; tail-feathers vinous-chestnut with faintly indicated dusky cross-bars ; 
crown vinous-chestnut, with a line of ashy-grey down the middle of the crown to 
the nape, the sides of the crown with scarcely any spots or bars of black, forming 
a broad band of vinous-chestnut on each side of the mesial grey band ; fore-head, 
lores, and a broad eyebrow mottled with small white spots, each of which has a 
black margin, this spotted appearance being continued on to the sides of the nape ; 
ear-coverts streaked with white, the feathers narrowly edged with black; sides of 
neck, hinder neck and upper mantle vinous-chestnut, with ovate spots of white, 
each spot narrowly margined with black; this vinous colour extending down the 
sides of the breast, where the spots are somewhat larger ; throat dull white, tinged 
with pale ochre on the lower part ; fore-neck, chest, and upper-breast ashy with a 
slight ochreous tinge and plentifully marked with ovate spots of pale ochre, increasing 
in size, on the sides of the breasts, which are also somewhat ashy ; centre of breast 
and abdomen white, the sides of the body and flanks pale ochreous-buff, the flanks 
more dusky and having ashy bases to the feathers ; under tail-coverts sandy-buff ; 
axillaries and under wing-coyerts leaden-grey, the former slightly washed with 
rufous; quills leaden-grey below, tinged with rufous along the inner web; iris 
