93 



distinguishable by tlieii' general tone of colour as well as by tbe rufous cbeeks 

 of the male. On the ground their movements are active ; sometimes they may 

 be seen indulging in a dust bath as the}^ lie basking in tlie sun ; unless 

 suddenly startled they almost always maintain that plump i-ounded appearance 

 which characterizes several genera of the Tetraonidce- 



From tolerably close observation, we are inclined to suppose that their 

 organs of hearing are fai less acute than those of sight ; they often give 

 utterance to a low purring sound, that one might suppose to proceed from an 

 insect rather than from a bird. The call is indulged in most frequently during 

 moist or wet weather; it sounds something like "twit, twit, twit, twee-twit," 

 repeated several times in quick succession. In very stormy, gusty weather, 

 these birds appear dull and silent, secreting themselves amongst thick tussocks. 

 When flushed, they do not rise perpendicularly, but still very straight for a few 

 feet from the ground. 



In confinement, they are fond of jDicking about amongst sand, and thrive 

 well on soaked bread, grain of various kinds, and the larvae of insects ; the 

 male is not an attentive mate at feeding time, and where several are kept in 

 the same enclosure, constant little bickerings take place without actual 

 hostilities being indulged in. 



The eggs require twenty-one days incubation, and the chicks are most 

 active directly they emerge from the shell. They grow very rapidly ; at about 

 four months old the young cannot very readily be distinguished from adult 

 birds, either by contrast of size or plumage. 



The Hon. J. C. Richmond saw Quail in the Taranaki District, in the 

 months of November or December, 1869. 



A fair correspondent forwarded two beautiful specimens of the egg (one of 

 which was unfortunately broken in the course of transit), which were obtained 

 in the Waitaki District. 



Examples of the egg have been found bufiy white with brown splashes. 



In the early days, on the plains near the Selwyn^ a bag of twenty brace of 

 Quail was not looked upon as extraordinaiy sport for a day's shooting. 



No. B. 65. — Anarhynchus frontalis, Quoy and Gaim. 

 (See also Vol. ii., p. 68.) 

 Thinornis frontalis, G. R. Gray. — Gen, B. 

 Gharadrius frontalis, G. R. Gray. — Ibis, July, 1862. 

 HcB'inato'pus frontcdis. — Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. i. 



This wader was first made known to science under its present name, by 

 MM. Quoy and Gaimard, having been observed during the expedition of the 

 "Astrolabe," undertaken in the years 1826-29, by order of the King of 

 France. It is also thus recorded in the "List of the Birds of New Zealand and 

 the adjacent Islands," in Dieffenbach's work. Again, by G, R, Gray (Ihis, 



