316 COTURNICIN 2. 
white and a few blackish spots on the breast and sides of the 
neck ; the rest of the lower plumage pale rufous, deepest on the 
lower neck and breast, and becoming earthy on the flanks and 
vent; the long feathers of the flanks pale chocolate color, with a 
broad central stripe and some black blotches. 
The female chiefly differs in wanting the rufous-brown patches 
on the throat and breast, which is much spotted with brown; 
she is larger than the male. 
The Grey Quail is a common winter visitant to all portions of 
our limits. It is much more common in some years than in 
others. A few pairs do occasionally remain to breed, but these 
are probably sickly or injured birds. 
Coturnix coromandelica, Gm. 
830.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 588; Butler, Guzerat ; 
Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 7; Deccan, Stray Feathers, 
Vol. IX, p. 423; Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, 
p- 215; Game Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 151; Swinhoe and 
Barnes, Central India; Ibis, 1885, p. 132. 
THE BLACK-BREASTED QUAIL. 
Length, 65 to 7:25; expanse, 783 to 12:12; wing, 3°43 to 
3°7 ; tail, 12 to 156; tarsus, 09 to 1:0; bill from gape, 0°5 to 
06; weight, 2:2 to 3 oz. 
Bill blackish, paler at base beneath; irides brown ; legs and 
feet pale fleshy. 
Male, upper surface closely resembles that of the Grey Quail, 
but is somewhat brighter, and the colors more pronounced, the 
yellow stripes being in greater number; chin and throat pure 
white ; two narrow cross bands of black on the throat, the upper 
one joined by a longitudinal stripe on each side from the base 
of the lower mandible ; below these the breast is black, breaking 
up into black blotches on the abdomen, extending along the 
flanks as far as the vent; lower belly white, tinged with rufous 
on the flanks and lower tail-coverts; primaries plain unbarred 
brown. 
The female wants the black breast and cross bars, and has the 
neck and breast spotted dark-brown. 
Young males have less of the black on the breast, which is 
broken up into spots and blotches. During the breeding season, 
the black breast is more marked, the bill also is darker, and the 
legs redder. 
The Rain Quail is generally distributed throughout the district, 
and isin most places a permanent resident ; in Sind it occurs 
as a seasonal visitant. It breeds during August, September and 
October, making a slight nest in a depression on the ground. 
The eggs, eight or nine in number, are usually broad oval in shape, 
and vary in color from pale yellowish to rich cafe-au-lait. 
_ “The markings are of three types :-— 
