64 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



This is such a skulking and incon- 

 spicuous game bird that few persons 

 trouble themselves about it, and con- 

 sequently details as to its distribution are 

 wanting, but there can be little doubt 

 that it is pretty evenly distributed over 

 the whole of India, hills and plains 

 alike. This bird is usually found in pairs 

 or singly, and it frequents open country, 

 living in clumps of grass, cultivated fields 

 and patches of scrub-jungle. When 

 flushed it rises and skims over the grass 

 or bushes which may be in its way and 

 drops suddenly, after which it can seldom 

 be flushed again. This Quail appears to 

 be a silent bird. 



Few nests of this Quail have been 

 found, and the Hume Collection contains 

 only seven of its eggs. Four of these, 

 from Mysore, were found on the 29th 

 April, one from Raipur in June and 

 one from Sialkot on the 26th August. 

 The seventh egg is without particulars, 

 except that it was found at Raipur. 

 These eggs are pyriform and very glossy. 

 The ground-colour of all is a yellowish 

 white, and the eggs are thickly covered 

 with specks and blotches of pale purple, 

 black and reddish brown, and in all 

 the marks are more thickly collected at 



