150 THE COMMON OR GREY QUAIL. 



of an inch down the sides of the neck, sweeps across the 

 base of the throat, nearly parallel to, and perhaps a quarter of 

 an inch below, the first. This second band is at times imperfect 

 in the middle of the throat. A broad band covers the chin, 

 and extends down the centre of the throat until it meets the 

 first cross band, a little beyond which it generally extends, very 

 rarely reaching the lower cross band. This central throat band 

 varies greatly in width, and in colour from greyish brown to 

 almost black ; the other bands, first mentioned, vary from a 

 bright brownish rufous to blackish brown. 



The female entirely wants the central throat band, and the 

 first, or the upper transverse band, is wanting for nearly half 

 an inch on the centre of the throat. 



Below these bands, the breast in the male is spotless, and 

 varies from pale buff, or buffy white, to a bright, but not deep 

 rufous ; all the feathers are pale shafted. The breast of the female 

 is similar, but more or less profusely spotted with a darker or 

 lighter brown, at times blackish. 



In some birds, of both sexes, the abdomen is pure white, 

 and at the other end of the scale birds are found with this 

 part pale rufous buff. 



On the upper surface some birds are very much darker and 

 richer coloured than others. 



The chin, throat and face, where unmarked, vary in both sexes 

 from pure white to pale buff. 



Now, although it results from these variations that any two 

 birds, when compared, may appear very different, yet, when a 

 really large series is examined (I speak, mind, merely of birds 

 killed in India), it is perfectly manifest that there is only one 

 race, and that every difference between individual birds can be 

 bridged over by a dozen intermediate forms, running so closely 

 one into the other, that it is impossible to draw a line of separa- 

 tion at any point. 



The only fact that the study of an enormous series from all 

 parts of India has enabled me to detect is, that the birds 

 which arrive by sea in Southern Sind, &c, appear to be generally 

 darker coloured than those which come from the north snd west. 



I do not find in my huge series a single old male (the young 

 ones want it) which does not exhibit the central throat patch ; 

 nor have I a single specimen with the entire throat and sides of 

 the head rich rusty red, as in the form that has been separated 

 as C.japonica. Such may occur in India, but, if so, they must be 

 rare, or they would necessarily have been represented in our 

 series. All the Indian birds now before me seem to be what 

 Naumann calls " kohlhahne" 



