238 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



know whether they utter this sound when kept in captivity by the natives of 

 India, who keep them for fighting. — D. L. Keddie (Myawaddy, Lower Burma) 

 [There are several species of Button Quail distributed over India, Burma, and 

 Nicobars. We presume from our correspondent's address that the bird to 

 which he rafers is the Burm3se Button Quail (Turnix blanfordi), found not only 

 in Burma but also in Assam and China. It is very like the large Button Quai 

 which is common throughout India, from the Himalayas to Travancore and 

 which is known to science as Turnix tanhi. The Burmese bird, however, is some- 

 what larger.— Ed.] 



(From " The Field" of 23rd September 1905.) 



No. XV— THE "BOOMING" OF THE BUTTON QUAIL. 



The note which appeared in your last issue on the " booming " note emitted 

 by Turnix blanfordi interested me greatly, for it is seldom one hears anything 

 about hemipodes in a wild state. I have kept several species of Turnix in 

 captivity, and succeeded in inducing two forms — the Indian T. tanhi and the 

 Australian T. varia — to breed successfully ; I may, therefore, claim some 

 knowledge of these interesting quail-like birds. Your correspondent states 

 that he watched a male and two females feeding, and that the male commenced 

 to utter the " booming" note which is characteristic of this group. I may say 

 however from careful observation, that it is invariably the female, the larger 

 and more brilliantly coloured bird, that " booms." She is the one that does 

 all the courting, while the male undertakes the entire duties of incubation and 

 the rearing of the young. It is evident, therefore, that the trio seen by your 

 correspondent consisted of one female and two males. I have published full 

 accounts of the habits, under more or less natural conditions, of both Turnix 

 tanhi and T. varia in the Avicultural Magazine (New Series, Vol. I., p. 317, 

 and Vol. III., p. 295). The way in which the female, after laying a clutch of 

 eggs upon which the male sits, goes off and recommences " booming," apparent- 

 ly with the object of calling another male, suggests that these birds, like the 

 tinamous, are polyandrous, and the fact of your correspondent seeing a female 

 with two males would seem to support this view. 



D. SETH-SMITH. 

 (From " The Field " of SQtli September 1905.) 



No. XVI— PLUMAGE OF YOUNG MALE PINTAIL DUCK 

 (BAF1LA ACUTA). 

 I notice very little mention is made in most of our books on the nestling 

 plumage of some of our Indian ducks, frcm which I gather notes on such 

 may be of interest. A duck shot at Fyzabad, United Provinces, on the 16th 

 November 1905 which I identify as a young male Pintail (Dafila acuta), presents 

 the following characters. 



The bird is evidently this year's nestling, and exhibits a good deal of down, 

 especially on the abdomen. 



