150 TUKNICIDJE. 



Key to the /Species. 



a. Bill plumbeous or slaty. 



a'. Larger: breast barred black and white; 



throat and middle of breast black in 



adult females T. pugnax, p. 151. 



V. Smaller, wing never exceeding 3 : middle 



of breast buff without black T. dussumieri, p. 152. 



b. Bill partly or wholly yellow ; middle of breast 



buff without any black. 

 <?'. Wing 3 to 3-o. 



a". Back in adults brown with slight black 

 vermiculation ; rufous confined to 



collar T. tanki, p. 153. 



I". Back in adults with bold black and 



rufous markings , T. albiventris, p. 154. 



d'. Wing 3-5 to 4 T. blanfordi, p. 155. 



The habits of all the three-toed Quails are very similar. They 

 live chiefly in grass or low bush, only emerging into bare places. 

 such as roads, in the morning and evening ; they are solitary, as a 

 rule, and although far from rare, are seldom seen, except when 

 disturbed by men walking through the grass. The bird then rises 

 at the man's feet, flies with much the flight of a Common Quail 

 for a short distance, often not more than 10 or 15 yards, and then 

 drops once more into the grass, whence it can very seldom be 

 flushed a second time. Dogs may often catch these birds alive, as, 

 after one flight, they lie still and allow themselves to be captured in 

 preference to flying. The food of all species consists principally 

 of small seeds ; small insects and tips of grass and leaves are also 

 eaten. 



Throughout the genus the females are larger, and in several 

 species they are more brilliantly coloured than the males. In the 

 only species of which the breeding-habits are well known. T.pugnax, 

 the birds pair, but still the ordinary conduct of the sexes during 

 the period of incubation is reversed, for the male alone sits on the 

 eggs and tends the young brood, whilst the females wander about, 

 utter a purring call, that serves as a challenge, and fight each 

 other. Jerdon has described how a hen is used as a decoy in the 

 Carnatic, and other hens captured by means of a trap-cage when 

 they approach to fight her. A similar device is employed in 

 Bengal near Calcutta, as recently noticed by Mr. Munn. Only 

 females are thus caught and only in the breeding- season, the birds, 

 after they are taken, often laying their eggs in the basket or bag 

 in which they are placed. 



The eggs appear to be usually four in number, occasionally 

 more numerous, broad ovals, generally pointed towards one end, 

 and double- spotted that is, they are stone-coloured, whitish, or 

 yellowish, with two sets of coloured spots differing in tint and 

 distribution. They are laid in a hollow on the ground, which is 

 generally under a bush or beside a tuft of grass, and sometimes 

 lined with grass. 



