84 Manual of the Game Birds of India, 



the Punjab and the North-West Provinces. 

 This Quail is at times monogamous, at 

 others polygamous. The nest is a small 

 hollow in the ground, lined with grass, 

 usually in places where grass and bushes 

 grow together. The female lays from six 

 to fourteen eggs. 



The eggs are generally broad ovals, 

 but sometimes pyriform, much pointed, 

 and with little gloss. The ground-colour 

 is yellowish buff, and the whole egg is 

 thickly covered with marks, which on 

 some eggs are dots and specks, and on 

 others blotches of various sizes. These 

 marks are reddish brown in most cases, 

 but occasionally brown or olive-brown. 

 The eggs measure from it to i'26 in 

 length, and from '82 to '95 in breadth. 



In the male bird the upper plumage 

 is a mixture of black, grey and rufous, 

 with long conspicuous yellowish streaks. 

 The first ten quills of the wing are brown, 

 the first margined with rufous, the others 

 notched with rufous on the outer web. 

 The chin and throat are dark brown or 

 blackish, succeeded by a crescentic white 

 band reaching from one side of the head 

 to the other. This white band is bordered 

 below by a chain of dark brown spots reach- 

 ing from ear to ear; and above on each side 



