The eggs arc sometimes merely laid on the ground; usually a very simple nest is constructed of 

 grass, in a sheltered depression ; four is the invariable number in each nest. The eggs are unusually 

 pointed, having a ground colour of pale buff, w ith numerous tiny specks of reddish-brown and purplish-grey. 

 Kadi egg is one inch and a quarter long by one inch broad. 



The forehead, nape, crown, and hack are rich brown, with circular deep brown markings ; feathers 

 of the rump and upper tail-coverts, barred with chestnut and black and edged with white; wings more 

 reddish, margined with white and boldly spotted with black : Behind the eve is a strongly marked patch 

 of buff; a line of white runs over the eye. joining the white of the throat and sides of the neck, which 

 are lightly marked with black : the scapularies are striped with dark brown ; chest and Hanks, olive 

 yellow ; abdomen, yellow ; bill, dark yellow ; legs, a lighter shade ; irides, orange. 



Habitats: Widely distributed over Australia in localities suited for its habitation. 



TURN IX MEL AN OG ASTER, 



BLACK-BREASTED TURN IX. Genus: Turnix. 



rilUFS is the largest of the species yet discovered, being fully half the size of the English Partridge. 



A All the specimens hitherto obtained have been procured on the eastern coast of Australia. The 



male bird is again the smaller. The illustration is of a female, and the black breast which distinguishes 

 her sex is absent in the male. 



Crown of the head, throat, and centre of the abdomen, black, with a brown streak on the top of 

 the head ; Banks and sides of the abdomen and chest having a double row of large white crescent-shaped 

 markings ; a line of feathers specked with white runs from the back of the eye, merging at the nape 

 into reddish-brown, which extends along the remaining upper surfaces; back feathers marked with black; 

 upper wing-coverts bordered with white, inside which is a strong black marking; lower wing-coverts 

 spotted with white, black on the outside ; bill, brownish-yellow ; feet, yellow. 



Length, 8^ inches ; bill, I inch : wing, \\ inches ; tail, f inch ; tarsi, 1^ inch. 



Habitats : Eastern parts of Queensland and New South Wales. 



