128 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 



they are not easily distinguished from the ordinary 

 plumage of the rump. 



It should be noted that the so-caUed Button- 

 quails or Bustard-quaUs do not belong to the pheas- 

 ant family at all, but form a curious little group 

 of their own, the Hemipodes, which will be dealt 

 with at the close of this series.' They have the same 

 soft tails as the typical quails, but differ from them 

 and from all other Phasiomdee in having no hind- 

 toe,* no web at the base of the toes, and only a 

 single row of scales down the front of the shank. 

 The head has also a quite different expression from 

 that of ordinary quails, the bill being longer and the 

 eyes yellowish white. 



The typical or soft-tailed quails fall into two 

 sections, one containing the Common, Japanese 

 and Rain quails, with the sexes not very different 

 and about a dozen feathers ia the tail, and the 

 other the little Painted Quail, in which the male 

 and female are extremely unlike and there are only 

 eight tail feathers. The plumage in these quails 

 is marked conspicuously with light streaks above, 

 and there is no spur in either sex, though this does 

 not prevent the males from fighting furiously. 

 They live always on the ground, and are more or 

 less migratory, 



* The Australian Plain-Wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus) has a hind- 

 toe and some other Australian Hemipodes have short stout bills, but the 

 above characters will diagnose all Indian species. 



