CHAPTER IX. 



Quails. 



The partridges being now disposed of, we come 

 to the quails, under which heading, as I said in the 

 introduction, are included all the smallest members 

 of the pheasant family, having the closed wing 

 under five inches in length. The term, like "teal," 

 among the ducks, is somewhat conventional, for 

 just as some small ducks, such as the whistlers, 

 are called "teal," though their relationship to the 

 proper teal is obviously small, so some of the 

 "qtiails" are evidently tiny partridges rather 

 than close allies of the typical quails. Whatever 

 their real relationships may be, the ten little game 

 birds which are popularly known as quails are 

 separable as follows : — 



The Mountain quail hy having the tail well-dev- 

 eloped, nearly as long as the closed wing ; other 

 quails having very short tails. 



The Stout-hilled Bush-quails (2 sppcies) by their 

 thick, short bills, and short but well-formed tails 

 about half as long as the wing. 



The. Slight-billed Bush-quails (4 species) by having 

 ordinary bills and well-formed tails about two- 

 thirds as long as the wing. 



The Typical quails (3 species) by having no no- 

 ticeable tail at all, the tall feathers being not only 

 less than half as long as the wing, but so soft that 



