444 



bird. The nest was only a hollow scraped in the ground, at the 

 root of a tobacco-plant, with a few bits of dry grass in it. The 

 eggs were eight in number, and were a dirty yellowish white covered 

 with small and large dark umber-brown blotches. I believe this is 

 the first instance of a nest of this bird being noted in the Punjab. 

 I fully believe, could I have got a good searcher, I should have 

 found several others. This nest was half a mile from my house." 



Mr. William Blewitt says : " I only found one nest of this 

 species, and that was in the Danah Beerh, near Hansi, on the 25th 

 March. Under a wild plum or Zizyphus-bnsh a slight hollow 

 had been scooped, and this had been lightly lined with leaves and 

 straw. It contained three fresh eggs." 



Colonel G-. E. L. Marshall remarks : " On the 25th March I 

 obtained a nesfc of the Common Quail, Coturnix communis, at 

 Allahabad. It contained six eggs nearly ready for hatching, and 

 was situated, as described by Dr. Jerdon, on a little tuft of grass 

 in a field in the Ganges Kadir surrounded by a good deal of 

 jungle. 



" As far as my observations go, the breeding of these birds in 

 the North-West Provinces is very unusual, and the fact may be 

 worthy of record. The Quails were in abundance at the time and 

 afforded excellent sport. Perhaps none of the keen sportsmen 

 who were out after them realized that some at least of the birds 

 were breeding. It may possibly turn out to be the case that their 

 breeding here may be more general than is supposed, and that 

 they come for this purpose and not solely on account of the 

 attraction of the grain-fields." 



The late Major Cock found these Quails breeding most abun- 

 dantly about Nowshera in April 1872, and Colonel Biddulph tells 

 us that in Gilgit they breed in May. 



The eggs of this species sent me from various localities closely 

 resemble, but are all somewhat smaller than, those that I have 

 procured in England. In shape they are broad ovals, a good deal 

 pointed towards one end. The ground-colour is a clear yellowish 

 or reddish buff, and they are thickly speckled and freckled, or more 

 thinly spotted or blotched, with deep reddish brown or at times 

 bluish black. The markings vary much in character and in inten- 

 sity ; some eggs are finely freckled and speckled all over, others 

 have only a fe\v large bold blotches accompanied by a few outlying 

 spots and specks. They are only moderately glossy. 



In length they vary from 1-1 to 1/2, and in breadth from 0'83 

 to 0-95 ; but the average of twenty eggs is 1-18 by 0'89. 



Coturnix coromandelica (Gmel.). The Black-breasted Quail. 



Coturnix coromandelica (Gin.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 588 ; Hume, 

 Rouyh Draft N. $ E. no. 830. 



As to the limits of the area within which the Black-breasted 

 Quail breeds, I have, I regret to say, no very definite knowledge. 

 In the Deccan, however, it breeds in multitudes, and it is to 



