354 Lieut. R. E. Vanglian and Staff-Surg. K, II. Jones 



grass-cutter at Howlik. Nesting as it does on the ground, 

 the eggs are only found by the grass-cutters, wlio pro- 

 bably eat them ou the rare occasions when they make a 

 find. 



COTURNIX COTURNIX. 



Quails occur during the spring and autumn migrations on 

 the West River and on the coast, but their numbers vary to a 

 remarkable extent ; in some years hardly a bird is to be seen, 

 and in others they are extraordinarily abundant. The 

 earliest dates in three successive years for the arrival of this 

 bird on the West River were October 9, 15, and 19, In 

 the spring they are generally plentiful, and are shot with 

 Snipe among the mulberry-canes. In the winter of 1900-01 

 Quails were astonishingly abundant, and again in 1905-06, 

 but in the intervening years their scarcity was equally 

 marked. 



At Kwei Hsien young birds were seen on August 11, and 

 a good many adults also. At Shamshui, October 29, a 

 covey of young, just able to fly, was put up, so that this 

 species does occasionally breed so far east and south. In 

 October the birds take to the paddy-fields, where they 

 gorge themselves wdth ripe rice and become very fat. 



The Chinese catch them in springes and in nets. All 

 through the winter these birds may be seen in the shops, 

 in vast numbers, alive, and in big bamboo cages. 



EXCALPACTORIA CHINENSIS. 



A considerable number of these birds pass through 

 Shamshui on the spring and autumn migrations, but they 

 have not been noticed on the coast, though probably 

 occasionally occurring there. 



At Kwei B sien, on the plain, they were found to be breeding 

 in July. At the end of June, when the grass is cut, the 

 Chinese obtain many eggs, and there is no doubt that this 

 species is double-brooded. From the appearance of the 

 ovaries of a bird shot at Shamshui in August, it is probable 

 that it bred there. 



The nest is a well-formed pad of grass, and a clutch of eggs 



