600 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIIl. 



" On April 24th a slight nest of hay was observed in the 

 above mentioned corner, and on the following day I discovered 

 one egg in the nest. On the 27th a second e,gg was laid, and 

 a third on the 28th, on which day the male began to sit, and, 

 although the nest was in a perfectly open place, and I was 

 obliged to disturb him each morning as I went to feed the 

 birds, he continued his task in a most praiseworthy manner, 

 and, on May 10th, hatched all three eggs, incubation having 

 been completed in the incredibly short space of twelve days. 



" From the day she laid her third egg, the female appeared 

 to take no notice whatever of the nest, and even when the 

 young were hatched, apparently ignored the presence of both 

 her mate and offspring. In fact, I found that she ate most of 

 the food that was provided for the chicks, and so shut her in a 

 separate place. 



" The little cock took the greatest care of his charges, 

 brooding them most tenderly, and attacking any living crea- 

 ture, including myself, that might approach them too closely. 

 He would pick up minute insects and hold them in his bill 

 until the chicks came and picked them from him, and, for the 

 first day or two, the chicks, so far as I was able to observe, 

 never picked up food for themselves." 

 As with all other Hemipodes the full clutch of eggs laid is four, 

 and I have never seen a greater number than this or a smaller 

 number, which showed signs of incubation. 



The eggs, except in size, agree in every detail with those of 

 Turnix taijoor taijoor, but on the whole are possibly rather more 

 boldly coloured. The specimens with big, bold blotches are 

 decidedly common, though the majority are merely profusely stip- 

 pled and speckled with reddish or greyish brown, with a few quite 

 small dots and spots of black or blackish. 



The Museum eggs vary between -85" (= 21-6mm.) and '9" 

 (= 22-8mm.) in length, and are -75" (= 19-Omm.) in breadth. 

 40 eggs, including the above 7, of which I have the measurements, 

 vary in length between -82" (=20-8mm.) and -95" (=24-lmm.) 

 and in breadth between -71" (=18-0mm.) and -81" (^20'6mm.), 

 and they average -88" x -76" (=22-3 x 19-2 mm.). 



Kahlts. — The Indian Button Quail frequents much the same 

 kind of country as does the Black-breasted Bustard Quail and the 

 Little Button Quail, but is, on the whole, even less fond of dense 

 forest than are these birds, and prefers grass lands to bush jungle, 

 though often found in the latter. It also frequents all kinds of 

 crops, from the lowest to the tallest, such as sugarcane when diy, 

 and the young jute before it has been flooded. Nowhere, that I 

 have heard of, can this bird be said to be common, and one or two 

 in the course of a long day's shooting is all that is usually met with. 



