TURN IX 703 



TURNIX, Bonnat., 1790. 



982. ANDALUCIAN HEMIPODE. 

 TURNIX SYLVATICA. 



Turnix sylvatica (Desfont), Mem. cle TAcad. Koy. des Sc. Paris, 

 1787, p. 500, pi. xiii. ; Dresser, vii. p. 249, pi. 494 ; Ogilvie 

 Grant, Cat. B. Br. Hus. xxii. p. 537 ; Saunders, p. 506 ; T. anda- 

 lusica (Gmel.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 766 (1788) ; T. africana, Bonn. 

 Tabl. Encycl. Meth. i. p. 6 (1790) ; Gould, B. of Gt. Brit. iv. 

 pi. 16 ; Hewitson, Ibis, 1859, pi. ii. figs. 4, 5 (eggs) ; Hemipodius 

 tachydromus, Temm. Pig. and Gall. iii. p. 626 (1815) ; Gould, B. of 

 E. iv. p. 264. 



Toirdo do mato, Portug. ; Torillo, Span. ; Quaglia tridattila, 

 Ital. ; Semmana, Arab. ; Zerqutt, Moor. 



< ad. (Spain). Head blackish brown marked with reddish brown, and 

 with a central brownish buff streak ; cheeks, sides of head, and upper 

 throat buffy white, barred with black, upper parts blackish brown trans- 

 versely marked with chestnut and black ; wing-coverts ochreous chestnut, 

 blotched and spotted with black, and broadly marked with buffy white ; 

 quills blackish brown externally edged with buffy white ; sides of 

 throat, neck, and flanks buffy white, each feather with a large blackish 

 brown crescentic mark ; middle of throat warm pale ferruginous, fading 

 to buffy white towards the abdomen ; under tail- coverts warm ochreous ; 

 bill dull fleshy becoming blackish at the tip ; legs light brown, the hind 

 toe wanting ; iris light '*brown. Culmen 0'5, wing 3'3, tail T7, tarsus 

 1*0 inch. The female is larger, has the nape nearly uniform dull light red, 

 and the under parts are richer coloured. 



Hal. Portugal, Spain, has once occurred in Italy, but is fairly 

 common in Sicily, and is said to be very rare in Southern 

 France ; North Africa. Of very doubtful occurrence in Britain. 



Frequents dense bush- covered localities, where it hides and is 

 very difficult to flush, being as a rule very shy and wary. Its 

 ordinary note is crroou, crroou, crroou, but in the early morning 

 and late in the evening both sexes utter a deep mournful note 

 like the distant bellowing of a bull. Throughout its range 

 it appears to be resident. It feeds on seeds of various kinds, 

 and insects. It is monogamous, and makes its nest, which is a 

 scantily lined depression in the ground, under shelter of a bush 

 in some dense thicket. Its eggs, which are deposited late in 

 June or early in July, 4 to 6 in number, are greyish or buffy 

 white rather closely marked with pale purplish grey shell spots 

 and dark brown or purplish brown surface blotches, and measure 

 about I'O by 078. 



