OTIDID.E. 319 



markings of inky-purple and dingy-yellow, the whole tending 

 to form a cap or zone at the larger end. 



They measure 0'87 inches in length by 075 in breadth. 



I 



Turnix dussumierii, Tern. 



835. I 7 , syksii, A. Smith. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, 

 p. 600 ; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 9 ; Deccan, 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 424 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology 

 of Sind, p. 217 ; Game Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 193 ; Swinhoe 

 afid Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 132. 



THE SMALL BUTTON QUAIL. 



Length, 5'2 to 57 ; expanse, 9'2 to 107 ; wing, 276 to 3'0 ; 

 tail, 1'25 to 1'5 ; bill from gape, 0'5 to 0'56 ; tarsus, 07 to 075 ; 

 weight, 1 T ' 6 oz. to 1J oz. 



Bill from leaden-white to plumbeous ; irides light yellow to 

 straw-white ; legs and feet pale fleshy-white. 



Head brown, black barred, with a pale supercilium and central 

 stripe ; upper parts chesnut-brown, e&ch feather finely barred 

 with black, and edged with yellowish-white, conspicuously on 

 the scapulars and part of the back and on the wing-coverts so 

 broadly as to appear entirely yellowish-white with chesnut, black- 

 edged spots ; quills dusky-brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 dark-brown, closely barred with black, and with faint whitish 

 edges to the feathers ; throat whitish, with a few blackish specks 

 on the sides ; breast pale ferruginous, with the sides of the neck 

 and breast with dark-brown drops and lunules ; abdomen whitish. 



The Lesser Button Quail is more or less common throughout 

 our limits. It does not appear to ascend the hills to any great 

 height. 



ORDER, Grallatores. 



Lower part of the tibia bare ] tarsus more or less elongated ; 

 feet of most, with the hind-toe imperfect and raised, or absent ; 

 in a few long, and on the same plane, as the front toes ; bill very 

 varied ; tail usually short ; wings lengthened. 



TRIBE, Pressirostris. 



Tarsi elongated ; hind-toe small or absent ; bill moderate or 

 short, thick ; moderately depressed at the base, compressed on the 

 side. 



FAMILY, Otididse. 



Bill rather short, stout, broad at the base, somewhat compressed 

 towards the tip ; upper mandible convex and slightly curved ; 

 nostrils in a large membranous groove ; legs long, rather stout ; 

 tarsi reticulated ; three short toes united at the base by a small 

 membrane ; hind-toe always absent ; claws short and blunt ; wings 

 ample, more or less pointed ; plumage mottled and game -like. 



