1 86 THE BURMO-MALAYAN BUTTON-QUAIL. 



I subjoin a careful description that I took from a series of 

 adult, but not old, birds, which may assist my readers in 

 discriminating this very variable form. : — 



The chin, throat, and middle of the abdomen are white ; the 

 entire breast rufous buff, most rufescent in the middle of the 

 breast, which is unmarked ; the sides of the breast, with a more 

 or less circular black spot near the tip of each feather ; upper 

 part of abdomen, sides of abdomen, sides of the body much 

 the same pale rufous buff as the sides of the breast ; in some 

 specimens these parts are spotless ; in others they exhibit a great- 

 er or smaller number of spots, similar to those on the sides of the 

 breast, but often more oval ; flanks and lower tail-coverts a rather 

 brighter rufescent buff ; feathers of the vent mingled buffy white 

 and dull white ; tibial plumes usually brownish ; lores buffy 

 white, often speckled with brown ; cheeks and sides of the head 

 pale buffy or buffy white, speckled and spotted with brown ; ear- 

 coverts small and inconspicuous, brown or rufescent brown, pale 

 shafted ; indications of a broad pale supercilium ; forehead 

 pale buff, barred or speckled with black ; crown and occiput 

 rufous (the feathers tipped black), with a narrow pale central 

 streak ; back, scapulars, rump, lesser wing-coverts, brown, patched 

 with ferruginous rufous and pencilled with black, and many of 

 the feathers tipped with buffy white, these tippings preceded by a 

 black band ; primaries, secondaries, and primary greater coverts 

 plain, pale, grey brown, and the greater coverts and the quills 

 often more or less margined with pale rufescent ; median coverts 

 and secondary greater coverts pale greyish rufescent, broadly 

 tipped with buff, and with a large black spot near the tip ; ter- 

 tiaries pale brown, tinged with rufous, especially on the outer 

 webs, pencilled in zig-zag with black, in some perhaps more 

 correctly freckled, and with a buff band, preceded by an 

 irregular black one near the tip on the outer webs. 



