212 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 



continent, but not so on the western. This species is said 

 to be the only one in the west. A noticeable feature in the 

 difference between button quails and true quails is that the 

 former will lay four eggs as a rule for a sitting and the 

 latter seven to ten. 



The present species will associate in stony country 

 slightly wooded and grassed, or in the heavily timbered lands 

 of Western Gippsland. In habits it is very much like 

 quail in general. 



The Plain Wanderer has a buff collar on the neck, a 

 hind toe, and lays three to four eggs. For these reasons 

 it is not a turnix, yet not a true quail. The breeding 

 season commences early in September and ends in 

 February ; but it may vary considerably, as Mr. Coles, the 

 Melbourne taxidermist, has just shown me an egg taken 

 from the sitting bird on 7th June of this year. 



Nest. — Similar to the preceding one. It is most often 

 placed beneath a tuft of grass. 



Eggs. — Four to the sitting ; shape, swollen oval ; pale 

 buff ground, with minute spots of reddish-brown and 

 brownish-grey all over it. Length, 1 inch ; breadth, 

 0-75 inch. 



