588 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



country which lies between us and their breeding country be 

 defective from bad seasons, they proceed on, and reach us in great 

 numbers ; on the contrary, if they find food nearer at hand, 

 they stop.' Hodgson states that they reach the valley of Nepal, in 

 greatest numbers, at the ripening of the autumn and spring 

 crops, respectively. Quails are netted in great numbers in some 

 parts of the country, and many are also caught in hair-nooses. 

 The Nepalese have an ingenious way of catching Quail. They 

 put a pair of imitation horns on their heads, and walk slowly about 

 the stubble fields, twirling some blades of grass in their hands 

 in a way to imitate the champing of grass by cattle, and as these 

 birds are not alarmed by cattle, they succeed in driving any quail 

 they see under a small net, which they then drop, and secure the 

 bird. 



Sykes, Yarrell and others have expended much learning and 

 paper in endeavouring to show that this bird was the species that 

 supplied food to the starving Israelites, referring to its migratory 

 habits as a proof thereof. It will be seen on referring to page 501, 

 that the large Pin-tailed Rock-pigeon is considered, with more pro- 

 bability, to have been the bird referred to by the Historian. 



830. Coturnix coromandelica, Gmelin, 



Tetrao apud Gmeltn — Blyth, Cat. 1523 — Gould, Birds of 

 Asia, pt. VI., pi. 7 — C. textilis, Temminck, PI. col. 35 — Jerdon, 

 Cat. ' 276 — Sykes, Cat. 154 — Batter or batteyr, II. — Chinna 

 i/ellichi, Tel. — Kade, Tam. — ' Rain-quail of some Sportsmen. 



The Black-breasted Quail. 



Descr. — Male, upper surface closely resembles that of the Grey- 

 quail, but somewhat brighter, and the colours more pronounced, 

 the yellow stripes being in greater number ; chin and throat pure 

 white ; two narrow cross bands of black on the throat, the upper 

 one joined by a longitudinal stripe on each side, from the base of 

 the lower mandible ; below these, the breast is black, breaking up 

 into black blotches on the abdomen, extending along the flanks as 

 far as the vent; lower belly white, tinged with rufous on the flanks 

 and lower tail-coverts ; primaries plain unbarred brown. 



