TURX1X SYLVAT1CA. 243 



The nest is, from the skulking habits of the birds, extremely 

 difficult to obtain. I never had the good fortune to find one, 

 but had one lot of eggs brought to me from near San Roque, 

 on the 6th of July, 1869. The finder said the nest was under 

 shelter of a palmetto bush, and merely consisted of a few bits of 

 dried grass. These eggs, four in number, which is, without 

 doubt, the regular complement laid by all the Three-toed 

 Quails *, were very slightly incubated, and in appearance much 

 resembled those of the Common Pratincole, Glareola torquata, 

 only being, of course, much more diminutive. Later in July 

 I received several eggs from Mogador, which exactly resembled 

 the Spanish ones ; but not having been blown and being hard 

 sat-on, the shells were so tender and rotten as to be useless. 

 My friend Captain S. Reid, of the Royal Engineers, informed me 

 that he had the luck to find a nest, placed in grass near the 

 shore on the eastern beach, on the 19th of May, 1873 ; this nest 

 contained four incubated eggs, as did another from near Tangier 

 obtained by Olcese. Verner tells me that on the llth of August 

 two eggs hard sat-on were brought him by a Spaniard, who had 

 caught the old bird on the nest. There were four eggs, but he 

 broke two whilst catching the old one. 



The males of this species, and, I believe, of all the genus, are 

 very much smaller than the females ; this difference is so striking 

 that the cazadores always declare there are two species. I have 

 at different times kept these little birds alive, and sent them to 

 England, and they are easily reconciled to captivity, becoming 

 very tame and confiding pets ; at times they coo in a moaning 

 way, whence their trivial Spanish name of torillo or little bull. 

 They also have another single note, much like that of the female 

 Quail but less loud. 



This bird was called by Latham in 1783 the Gibraltar Quail. 



The Anglicized name of Hemipode is fallacious, as Nature 



* Captain Loche,^(?e Canon Tristram, seems to have been singularly fortunate 

 in finding a nest with seven eggs (' Ibis,' 1859, p. 80). 



E2 



