TURXIX. 153 



S. F. ix, p. 77 ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 64 ; Oates, E. B. ii, p. 336 ; Barnes. 

 Birds Bom. p. 319; Ogiloie Grant, Ibis, 1889, p. 462; id. Cat. 

 B. M. xxii, p. 540; Oates in Humes N. ty E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 371. 

 Turnix sykesi, Blyth, Cat. p. 256 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 600 ; King, 

 J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 216; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xliii, 

 pt. 2, p. 174. 



Ghinwa Lawa, Chota Law a, Dabki, Tura, Chimndj CMuttra), Libbia 

 (Purneah), H. ; Darwi, Ratnagiri ; Chinna (or Telia) dabbaywidlu, Tel. ; 

 San yundlu, Uriya. 



Tail-feathers elongate and pointed. 



Coloration. Crown black and brown mixed, a buffy-white median 

 line ; supercilia and sides of head bully white, more or less speckled 

 with black ; back of neck ferruginous red to rufous brown, with 

 buff edges to the feathers ; back-feathers closely but irregularly 

 barred black and rufous with traces of whitish edges ; the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts the same but darker ; scapulars and wing- 

 coverts rufous and black with conspicuous broad buff edges ; 

 quills brown, outer primaries with buff outer borders ; chin, throat, 

 and abdomen almost white ; middle of breast brownish buff, sides 

 of breast lighter buff, with heart-shaped black or black-and-chestnut 

 spots. There is very little, if any, difference in the two sexes 

 except in size. 



Bill plumbeous ; irides pale yellow ; legs fleshy whitish (Jerdon). 



Length of female 5'5 ; tail 1*3 ; wing2'9 ; tarsus '75 ; bill from 

 gape '53. Males are a little smaller. 



Distribution. The greater part of India and Burma, becoming rarer 

 to the southward, and not known to occur south of Mysore nor in 

 Ceylon. This species is found in Sind and the Punjab to the Salt 

 Eange, throughout the Indo-Grangetic plain and Lower Himalayas 

 up to, in places, about 6000 feet elevation, and it has been recorded 

 from the Khasi hills, Manipur, and Pegu, but not from Tenasserirn. 

 To the eastward it is met with in Hainan and .Formosa. 



Habits, $c. Though generally a resident, the small Button-Quail 

 is believed to visit Kajputana, Siud, and open parts of the Deccan 

 only in the rains. It breeds from April to October, according to 

 locality, and lays usually 4, sometimes 5 or 6, eggs in a small 

 depression on the ground lined with grass. The eggs are stone- 

 coloured, minutely speckled with brownish and with larger spots of 

 darker brown, and they measure about '85 by *65. 



1384. Turnix tanki. The Indian Button-Quail. 



Turnix tanki (Buck. Ham.}, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii, p. 180* (1843) ; 



id. Ibis, 1867, p. 161; Ogiloie Grant, Ibis, 1889, p. 466; id. Cat. 



B. M. xxii, p. 544 ; Gates in Humes N. $ E. 2nd ed. iii^p. 370. 

 llemipodius joudera, Hodys. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 85 (1844), 



descr. nulla. 

 Turnix dussumieri, apud Blytli, Cat. p. 256 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 599 ; 



Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xliii, pt. 2, p. 174 ; nee Temm. 

 Turnix joiidera, Butler, S. F. iv, p. 8 ; v, p. 231 ; ix, p. 424 ; Hume, 



S. F.\\, p. 225 ; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 226 ; Hume $ Marsh. Game B. 



