8YN01CU8 AUSTILILIS. 



(Stramp Quail.) 



EoREiiEAD, lores, tliroat, and cheeks, brownish buff in summer, but generally very much lighter in the winter season, as is jilso the 

 rest of the plumage; crown and back of the neck, dark brown, with a broad line of buft' down the centre, and a narrow one 'on each 

 side ; upper surface of the back and tail, irregularly banded with grey, black, and light chestnut ; wing coverts, reddish, or buflfish 

 chestnut, freckled with zigzag marks of light brown ; primaries, brown, the outer edges with irregular bands of reddish buff; chest and 

 abdomen, sandy buff, washed with grey, each feather crossed by zigzag or lunated bands of black, which are largest on the abdomen 

 and flanks ; all the feathers of the back, and some on the flanks, having a clear, whitish, bufl", or greyish line, down the centre ; 

 irides, orange ; feet, fleshy yellow ; bill, bluish black. 



Average length, 7 inches ; wing, 3f ; tail, variable — 1^ to 2| ; bill, | ; tarsus, |. 



The sexes are very much alike, but the markings are of a bolder character in the female than the male. 



Much confusion exists resj)ecting this species, which is found all over the continent of Australia, and also in Tasmania. 

 The specimens from Cape York and Port Essington are of smaller size, but lighter, and more brightly colored. The Tasmanian 

 specimens are generally the largest, sometimes measuring upwards of 8f inches in length : but the color and markings are like those 

 of Queensland, where, also, specimens occasionally occur of equal size. The want of a sufficient number of specimens in all their 

 varieties of plumage, has led Mr. Grould to suppose that we have four species of large swamp quail. But the favorable opportunities I have 

 had of examining numerous Queensland examples shot by Mr. Cockerell, (who, by the aid of his valuable dogs, is able to procure this 

 and other species of quail in great plenty,) enable me to arrive at the conclusion that there is only one. Specimens in Mr. 

 CockereH's collection of every variety of color, size, and markings justly me in speaking positively concerning the S. Diemenensis and 

 S. Cervinus of Grould ; and S. Sordidus, I believe, will be found to be only a plainer variety than usual. No necessity exists for a 

 description of the two former, as they would nearly read like the one above. The last, which I give in the words of Mr. Grould, may 

 assist other observers in arriving at a correct conclusion concerning it. " 8. Sordidus : Greneral plumage, dark brown, minutely 

 " freckled with black, each feather of the upper and under surface with a broad stripe of bluish grey down the centre ; feathers of the 

 " head and back of the neck with a spot of blackish-brown at the tip ; those down the centre of the head, and a few of the back 

 " feathers, with white shafts ; chin, buff"; flank feathers, with an arrow-head shaped mark near the tip." The measurements are almost 

 " identical with the one above; and the remark by Mr. Gr., that this "species differs from its congeners in the absence of any variety 

 " in the markings of its plumage," will nearly apply to some specimens of S. Australis which I have seen. In fact, it is difficult to 

 conceive of a bird varying more than this one. A covey of fourteen shot by Mr. Cockerell, varied from light to dark, small to large, 

 bold to more or less inconspicuous markings. The natural habitat of this species is swampy districts, surrounded by thick vegetation, 

 but more especially (in Queensland) near gardens or cultivated spots. Wl.en disturbed, it rises with a loud burr, takes a short flight 

 to the distance of about one hundred yards, and endeavors to conceal itself in the nearest cover. If much persecuted, it removes to a 

 greater distance. When a covey rises, the birds scatter in every direction ; and if the sportsman remain quiet, he will hear 

 them calling to one another in a monotonous note, consisting of two sounds like a minor third in music, and in a very short time 

 they collect together again. The eggs are usually laid under a tuft of grass in a small depression of the earth, with a few root fibres 

 for a lining ; and sometimes are even deposited beneath cabbage plants in gardens. The eggs, from twelve to eighteen in number, are 

 rather variable, some being of a light buft', or olive buff", with scarcely any markings ; others are sprinkled with minute spots of brown, 

 or smeared with dirty brownish olive. Size, 1\ by 1 inch (nearly). The swamp quail is considered a great delicacy for the table, and 

 occupies the same position with us as the partridge does in England. 



SYNOICUS CHINENSIS. 



(Least Swamp Quail.) 



Male. — Crown of the head and upper surface, brown, irregularly blotched with black, some of the feathers with a stripe of buff* down the 

 centre ; wings, brown ; face, breast, and flanks, fine blue-grey ; throat, black, above which is an oblong mark of white under the eye, and 

 another below the black of the throat, forming a white lunate collar in front ; it is bounded below by a line of black ; abdomen and under 

 tail coverts, rich chestnut red ; irides, hazel ; bill, black ; feet, light yellow. Female: space surrounding the eye, throat, and abdomen, sandy 

 buft'; crown of the head, and all the upper surface, huffish brown, blotched and striped with blackish brown; breast narrowly, and flanks 

 l)i*oadly, striped with the same ; a blackish streak through the middle of the face ; irides, dark brown. 



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