220 GALLIFORMES 



surface is buff, with black chevrons in younger birds. The 

 female lacks the grey tints, and is more coarsely barred with 

 black. Gould describes the habits and call as resembling those 

 of the Common Partridge, but they are better exemplified by 

 those of Excalphatoria, while the eggs vary from ten to fourteen, 

 and are creamy or greenish-white, generally closely freckled with 

 brown. S. raalteni of Timor and Flores has a rufous throat. 



Of the true Quails six species may be admitted. Coturnix 

 communis, the Common Quail, though essentially a migrant in 

 the north, ranges throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, and 

 breeds not uncommonly in Britain, having also been introduced 

 into the Eastern United States ; while another African race (C. 

 capensis auctt.) only differs in its reddish throat. The crown is 

 dark brown with a light streak down the centre and above each 

 eye ; the upper parts are brown and black with buff longi- 

 tudinal stripes, becoming mottlings on the remiges ; the throat is 

 white with a black median patch connected with the ear-coverts 

 by two upcurved lines : the breast is reddish-buff, the abdomen 

 yellowish-white, the flanks are mottled or barred with brown. 

 The short tail of ten or twelve feathers lies entirely below the 

 coverts. The hen-bird has black pectoral spots and a perfectly 

 white throat. C. japonica of East Asia and Japan, occasionally 

 found in Bhutan and Burma, has a plain brick-red throat, the 

 sides of which and the chin exhibit lanceolate feathers in the 

 female. Hybrids between this species and the Common Quail 

 occur where their ranges overlap ; individuals, moreover, present 

 great variation. C. coromandelica of India and the Burmese 

 countries, C. delegorguii of the Ethiopian Eegion, C. pectoralis of 

 Australia and Tasmania, and the nearly extinct C. novae zealandiae 

 of New Zealand, have the outer webs of the primaries uniform 

 brown in both sexes ; the males of the first two have the throat 

 as in C. communis, with a black patch on the breast, and buff and 

 chestnut under parts respectively ; the third has the throat plain 

 brick-coloured ; and the fourth still brighter red. The females 

 have no throat-mark, the hen of C. delegorguii being blackish - 

 brown above, and that of C. pectoralis shewing black chest-bands, 

 which in C. novae zealandiae cover most of the feathers. That 

 Quails can traverse long distances is evidenced by the migration 

 of large flocks in spring and autumn ; but, as a rule, their flight is 

 short, and they rise with great reluctance, though with considerable 



