THE NICOBAR BUTTON QUAIL. 201 



region, and the scapulars are bright chestnut, more or less 

 variegated with yellowish white and black. 



The centre and lower portion of the back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts are black or blackish brown ; the feathers fringed 

 at the tips with bright rufous or chestnut, with one or more 

 freckled bars of the same colour towards the tips, and some of 

 the tail-coverts and some of the lateral feathers of the back 

 with yellowish white spots or streaks on the outer margin ; 

 the tail feathers, which are completely hidden by the upper tail- 

 coverts, are greyish brown, with obsolete blackish brown bars ; 

 the primaries, secondaries, and the greater coverts of the 

 former are very pale satin brown ; the outer web of the first 

 primary nearly white, and all the rest of the quills, which pale 

 towards their tips, excessively narrowly edged with pale fulvous ; 

 the tertiaries are more of a pinkish brown, mottled with 

 blackish brown towards their tips, and with a yellowish brown 

 spot there on the outer webs. Their coverts and most of the 

 secondary coverts, fawn coloured or pale buff, with blackish 

 brown, irregularly-shaped spots near the tips ; the chin and 

 the upper portion of the throat pure white ; the rest of the 

 throat and the middle of the breast light ferruginous ; the 

 sides of the breast pale buff with regular, narrow, transverse 

 blackish brown bars. A few circular black spots on either side 

 below where the barring ends. The central portion of the 

 abdomen white ; the sides, vent feathers, tibial plumes, flanks, 

 and lower tail-coverts tinged burly, the two latter most strongly 

 so; some of the feathers of the sides of the upper abdomen 

 with broad subterminal blackish brown spots or imperfect bars. 



In the female the black stripes on the head are edged with 

 white and not with chestnut, and the stripe dividing them is 

 white, the feathers with dark brown tips, thus giving the head 

 a totally different appearance. The back of the neck and 

 upper back are occupied by a broad, intensely-bright, chestnut 

 half-collar, entirely unmarked and unspotted, and nearly three- 

 quarters of an inch broad ; the ear-coverts, sides of the head, 

 and a line under the eye are pale fulvous, dotted with black ; 

 the entire chin, throat, and upper breast are bright ferrugi- 

 nous, only the point of the chin paler ; there is no barring on 

 the sides of the breast as in the male, only a few large blackish- 

 brown ovate spots, which continue downwards on the sides 

 and flanks ; a few similar but smaller spots adorn the middle 

 portion of the lower breast and upper abdomen. The rest of 

 the plumage is similar to that of the male, but there is a greyer 

 shade on the middle of the back, and the spots on the coverts 

 and tertials are larger and more numerous. 



There are a vast number of species of Tumix belonging to at 

 least two different types. The first of these (the Bustard Quails) 

 is fairly represented by Tumix taigoor, and this type is separated 



26 



