224 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Perdortyx Montessus, Mem. Soc. Saone, Vol. VI., p. 36, 1885. Type (by monotypy) : 

 Synoicus lodoisiz " Verreaux et Des Murs " Montessus = Tetrao coturnix Linn6. 

 Maroturnia Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 6, p. 112, Sept. 24th, 1914. Type 

 (by original designation) : Coturnix pectoralis Linne. 



Small Galline birds with short curved bills, short wings, short tail and short 

 legs and feet. The bill is short, broadly triangular, tip somewhat spoon shaped, 

 sides sloping, culmen not keeled but pronounced, deep at base ; the lower mandible 

 shallow and entirely overlapped by upper mandible which projects into a prominent 

 tip ; the nostrils are situated in a semicircular depression, appearing as linear slits, 

 situated midway between ridge and edge of mandible near the base, the feathers 

 of the lores projecting on to the nasal groove below the nasal apertures, which are 

 almost hidden by the strong membranous operculum characteristic of this family. 

 The wings are short and rather pointed, the flight feathers stout and capable of long 

 flight ; the first and second primaries are almost or quite equal, the third a little 

 shorter, and these constitute the tip of the wing ; the secondaries rather short, 

 reaching to the ninth primary only. The tail is composed of ten short soft feathers, 

 less than one-third the length of the wing, rounded in shape and the upper tail- 

 coverts long, reaching to the end of the tail, the under tail-coverts about as long. 

 The legs are short and stout, the tarsus transversely scutellate in front, covered with 

 hexagonal scales on sides and behind, the toes scutellate ; the tarsus is nearly twice 

 as long as the culmen. The toes are short and stout, the middle toe longest, tin* 

 inner and outer subequal, the hind-toe long about one-third the length of the 

 inner ; claws fairly long and sharp. 



Coloration streaked black and white above and below. 



153. Coturnix pectoralis. STUBBLE-QUAIL. 



Gould, Vol. V., pi. 88 (pt. xxv.), Dec. 1st, 1846. Mathews. VoL I., pt. 1, pi. 9, Oct. 31st, 



1910. 



Coturnix pectoralis Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. ii. t pi. (29), April 1st, 1837 : New South 



Wales. 



Coturnix pectoral^ praetermiasa Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 178, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Broome Hill, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally. Tasmania. 



Adult male. Head, neck, entire back and scapulars rufous-brown and black 

 streaked with white ; a white streak from the middle of the crown to the hind-neck, 

 another one which commences at the base of the bill and goes over the eye and along 

 the sides of the neck forming a white eyebrow ; mantle and upper back rufous -brown 

 more broadly streaked with white, some of the feathers broadly barred with black, 

 and narrowly with rufous bars ; some of the feathers of the back black with very 

 narrow zigzag markings ; scapulars like the back with grey margins to the tips of 

 the feathers ; lower back and rump show more black, with ashy tips to the feat 

 the rufous -brown broken up into very narrow cross -bars ; tail -feathers dark grey, 

 with a white shaft-streak and white bars on both webs towards the margins ; lesser 

 wing-coverts, median and primary-coverts ashy -grey with paler shaf t-lines ; primary - 

 and secondary-quills ashy -grey with dark shaft-lines somewhat paler on the inner 

 webs ; lores, sides of face, chin and throat rufous, with a few black dots from the 

 gape, which indicate a line along the sides of the neck and meet on the middle of the 

 lower throat ; the feathers on the chest and breast almost entirely black and some 

 with white outer webs, the feathers of the lower-breast white with a broad streak of 

 black down the middle, those on the sides of the breast and sides of the body are 

 white narrowly lined on each side with black and margined with rufous ; the feathers 

 on the lower flanks more broadly centred with white, the dark brown on the outer 

 webs divided by a narrow longitudinal line of buif ; middle of abdomen, thighs and 

 under tail-coverts white, the latter more or less lined with black ; under wing- 



