44 THE PHEASANT SUBFAMILY 



in a hedgerow or under shelter of a bush, often on the top of a bank, and lines it 

 carelessly with a little grass or a few dead leaves. A good many nests have been 

 recorded on the tops of stacks of straw, oats, etc. Apparently the nest is the work 

 of the hen alone. (PL LXI.) In it she lays, as a rule, about 10 or 12 to 18 eggs, 

 occasionally as many as 20, which vary in ground-colour from yellowish or buff to a 

 warm rufous tint, speckled with fine red-brown spots and a few irregular blotches of 

 purplish or reddish brown. Average size of 53 eggs, 1'59 x T21 in. [40'5 x 30*8 mm.]. 

 Incubation is performed by the hen alone, and, according to Mr. W. Evans's experi- 

 ments, lasts 23 to 24 days. The laying season begins slightly earlier than that of the 

 grey-partridge, the first eggs being laid in the south of England during the latter 

 part of April, sometimes not till May, and a week or two later in the north 

 Midlands. Only one brood is reared during the season. [F. c. R. J.] 

 5. Food. As common-partridge, [w. p. p.] 



QUAIL [Coturnix coturnix (Linnaeus) ; Coturnix communis Bonnaterre. Wet- 

 my-lip, wet-my-feet, but-for-but (Cheshire). French, caille ; German, 

 Wachtel ; Italian, guaglid]. 



I. Description. The common-quail may readily be distinguished by its 

 small size, sandy coloration, and the median buff longitudinal stripe on the crown. 

 (PL 143.) Length 7 in. [177*80 mm.]. There is no seasonal change of plumage, 

 and the sexes slightly differ in coloration. In the male the feathers of the crown and 

 nape are black, tipped with pale brown, and down the centre of crown runs a band 

 of buff, and there is a similarly coloured superciliary stripe. The interscapulars 

 are black with irregular transverse bars of pale brown, and dull white shaft-streaks ; 

 the hindmost feathers have their tips powdered with grey ; the scapulars are pale 

 brown with lanceolate, dull white, black-bordered shaft-streaks, and barred and 

 blotched with black and buff. The wing-coverts are pale brown, with buff shaft- 

 streaks and transverse bars, while the quills are brownish grey having the outer 

 webs transversely barred buff. The tail feathers are dusky, with buff shaft-streaks 

 and transverse bars, their coverts black, with shaft-streaks and transverse bars of 

 buff. There is a black malar stripe, and the throat is white marked with a black, 

 inverted anchor, variable in size. The fore-breast is of a pale chestnut with buff 

 striations ; the flanks greyish brown, with black-margined buff striations and 

 black bars and blotches on the outer webs ; the abdomen is pale buff. The female 

 differs from the male in having the black of the upper parts duller. The throat is 



