102 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Bill dusky; hides brownish-red; legs fleshy-yellow. Length 6 

 to 6^ inches ; extent 12 ; wing 3J ; tail 1£ ; tarsus J. Weight 

 2| to 1\ oz. 



The female wants the black breast and cross bars, and has the 

 neck and breast spotted with dark brown. 



Young males have less of the black on the breast which is 

 broken up into spots and blotches. During the breeding season, 

 the black breast is more marked, the bill also is darker, and the 

 legs redder. 



This Quail bears so close a resemblance to the large Grey-quail, 

 that many Sportsmen consider it to be the same, in spite of the 

 dilTercnce in size, in which they are confirmed by the opinion of 

 some natives who assert that the Rain-quail is the male bird of 

 the Grey-quail. Looking at the upper surface of each, they 

 certainly present a very close similarit} 7 , but the lower plumage 

 differs much in the males, less so in females. The two birds, 

 however, may always be distinguished by a glance at the primaries, 

 which are unspotted brown in the present bird, barred in the 

 Grey- quail. 



The Rain-quail, as it is called by many Sportsmen, is found 

 throughout the whole of India, rare in thickly wooded or forest 

 districts. In many parts of the country where the grass is short 

 and much dried up in the hot months, it is not found, or at all 

 events, it is rare till the rains have commenced, and the youno- 

 grass is springing up, when numbers appear all over the country, 

 entering gardens and grassy compounds, and their pleasant whistle 

 wldt-wlrit, stronger in its tone than the call of the Grey-quail, may 

 be heard at all hours. On this account it has received its popular 

 name of ' Rain-quail/ Several writers in the Bengal Sporting 

 Magazine, including Hodgson, used to consider the Coromandci 

 and Rain-quail to be distinct; but the well-known 'Guno-a' 

 shewed that they were the same bird, and that the supposed 

 distinction probably arose from Sportsmen considering that Rain- 

 quail, so called, were never met with, except during the rains, 

 whereas they are found at all seasons, but attract attention less in 

 the cold weather, and indeed are then often confounded with the 

 Grey -Quail. 



