Mr, W. R. Ogilvie-Graut on the Genus Turnix. 447 



means so easy a matter. This will soon become apparent 

 to anyone making a study of the genus, for most of the 

 species pass through intricate changes of plumage, and 

 every character seems to be subject to variation. Whether 

 we look to general colour, markings, size, or other cha- 

 racters, it is almost impossible to form an opinion as to 

 the value of a species without having first studied the 

 group or had a considerable series of specimens to judge 

 from. Nevertheless it will be found that, after allowing 

 a certain margin for variation, these individual differences 

 in plumage are not so irregular as would at first appear, all 

 of them being stages through which each bird passes before 

 reaching maturity. In making our comparisons several things 

 have to be borne in mind. 



Firstly, that the females are the birds in which we must 

 look for specific distinctions, for in this abnormal group the 

 position of the sexes is so far reversed, that the females are 

 larger and more handsomely coloured than the males, which 

 in some of the species, at least, and probably in all, are 

 compelled to sit on and hatch the eggs, while the females 

 are amusing themselves by wandering about and engaging in 

 fierce conflicts with one another. 



Secondly, that the males, as a general rule, resemble the 

 young females and, in several species, are so like one another 

 that they are difficult or impossible to distinguish, while 

 their respective adult females differ widely from one another 

 and may even belong to different sections of the group. As 

 an instance of this we may compare the species of the Philip- 

 pine Islands, T. fasciata, with T. r'ufilatus, which inhabits 

 Celebes. The males of these are much alike, though in the 

 Philippine bird (except in very old examples) there is usually 

 an indication of a rufous nuchal collar, and the ground-colour 

 of the breast is buff instead of white. But the adult females 

 differ widely, those of the Philippine species having the chin 

 and throat and middle of the breast deep black and a broad 

 rufous nuchal collar ; while in the Celebean species we find the 

 chin and throat barred with black and white like the breast, 

 and the upper surface uniform. Thus it is clear that it is 



