COTUEXIX. 115 



2?, B, i\, p. 331 ; Barnes, Birch Bom. p. 315; Hume, S. F. xi, 

 p. 309; S(. John, Ibis, 1889, p. 175; Gates in Humes N. # E. 

 '2nd ed. iii, p. 443. 

 Coturnix coturnix, Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. M. xxii, p. 231. 



The Large Grey Quail, Jerdon ; Bate.r, Bar a Bater, Gayus hater, H., 

 Tipper India; Batairo, Sind ; Batri, Beng. ; Gundri, [Jriya; Soipol, 

 Manipur ; Botah Surrai, Assam ; Ng<m, Burin. ; Bur-yanja, Gur-ganj, 

 Poona, &c. ; Burli, Belgaimi ; Gogari-yellachi, Tel. ; Peria-ka-deh, Tarn.; 

 Sipale haki, Can. (Mysore). 



Coloration. Male. Feathers of crown black with broad brown 

 edges ; median coronal streak and broad supercilia pale buff ; a 

 dark brown stripe from the gape ; ear-coverts brown, rest of sides 

 of head white speckled with dark brown ; back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts light brown, with fusiform buffy-white shaft-stripes 

 and black blotches, the latter crossed by rufous bars : scapulars 

 and wing-coverts also brown, with narrow pale shaft-lines and bun: 

 transverse bars ; quills brown, the first primary with a whitish 

 outer border, the other primaries and secondaries barred on the 

 outer web with rufous ; the bars on the secondaries dark-edged ; 

 tail blackish brown, with pale buff shaft-stripes and transverse 

 bars; throat and fore neck whitish, with a blackish anchor-shaped 

 mark consisting of a broad median band and a narrower cross stripe 

 curving upwards on each side to the ear-coverts ; the median baud 

 varies greatly in breadth, and sometimes covers the throat ; breast 

 rufous-buff, paler or darker, with pale shaft-stripes, the anterior 

 border with a broken gorget of blackish -brown spots ; the rufous 

 passes on the lower breast into the whitish buff of the abdomen 

 and lower tail-coverts ; flanks brown, with broad whitish shaft- 

 stripes and blackish spots. 



The female wants the black marks on the throat, and the breast 

 is more or less spotted with black, except in a few individuals, 

 probably very old birds. In young birds of both sexes the breast 

 is thickly spotted with black or blackish brown. 



Bill horny brown ; irides yellow-brown ; legs pale fleshy (Jerdon). 



Length about 8; tail l'7o ; wing 4-25; tarsus 1-1 ; bill from 

 gape '6. 



Distribution. A migratory bird, visiting the greater part of our 

 area, except Ceylon and Tenasserirn, in winter. It is more 

 abundant in Northern than in Southern India, and is of rare 

 occurrence in Burma. Beyond Indian limits, the Common Quail 

 is found almost throughout Europe and Africa, and in Asia except 

 in the south-eastern parts. 



Habits, $c. The Grey Quail arrive in Northern India from 

 Central Asia in September, but are not usually seen in the Deccan 

 or Bengal before October. Occasionally some, even large parties, 

 arrive in Sind, Cutch, and Guzerat from the latter end of August till 

 December, coming from the seaward, probably from Arabia. The 

 majority, as a rule, leave the north of India in December and 

 January for the south, returning and at times abounding in the 

 ripening wheat- and barley-fields of the North-west Provinces, 



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