236 TUBNICID^ TUENIX 



Order XIII. HEMIPODII. 



The members of this little group, sometimes known as Button- 

 Quails, closely resemble the true Quails externally in shape and 

 plumage, but the birds are a good deal smaller, and (in the only 

 South African genus) the hind toe or hallux is absent. As a rule 

 the female is larger and more brightly coloured, and the male per- 

 forms the duty of incubation. The eggs are laid on the ground, 

 with little or no attempt at a nest, and the young are hatched 

 covered with down, and able to run at once. 



The following are the principal anatomical characters Skull 

 aegithognathous and schizorhinal : vertebrae all distinct from one 

 another; sternum with only one deep notch on each side pos- 

 teriorly ; after shaft present ; oil gland tufted ; accessory femoro- 

 caudal muficle absent (in Turnix). 



There are only two genera, which are in many respects very 

 distinct from one another, and should perhaps be placed in separate 

 families. As, however, only one of these (Turnix) is represented in 

 South Africa, its position as regards, the other (Pedionomus) , which 

 is confined to Australia, is immaterial to our purpose. 



Family I. TURNICID^J. 



Genus I. TURNIX. 



Type. 



Turnix, Bonnat. Tabl. Encycl. Meth. i, pp. Ixxxii, 5 



(1790) T. sylvatica. 



Bill slender and straight ; wings somewhat rounded, the first 

 three primaries about equal in the African species ; tarsus bare ; 

 three toes only, the hallux being absent. 



Some twenty-one species of this genus, spread over Southern 

 Europe, Asia and Australia, from Spain to China and Tasmania, 

 and the whole of Africa including Madagascar, are known ; three 

 of these are found within our limits. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Scapulars margined with white or greyish - 

 white ; a rusty patch on the chest, the 

 black spots confined to the sides of the 

 breast T. lepurana, p. 238. 



