372 



CHINESE QUAIL. 



white gorget, the lateral margins of which bend 

 upwards towards the orifice of the ears, and are 

 surrounded by a narrow border of black : the fore- 

 head, a stripe beneath the eyes, the breast, and the 

 sides, are of a lead-colour, the latter marked with 

 black bands : the middle of the belly, the thighs, 

 and the abdomen, are red chesnut : the whole of 

 the upper parts of the body and the tail-coverts 

 are grey-brown, varied with different sized black 

 spots ^ and most of the feathers have their shafts 

 whitish : the wings are grey-brown : the greater 

 coverts are lead-colour towards their tips, and the 

 whole are tipped and fringed with chesnut : the 

 beak is black : the feet and the claws are yellow. 



The female has the throat and the middle of the 

 belly pure white : the cheeks, the forehead, and a 

 stripe above the eyes, are of a bright red : the fea- 

 thers of the head are dusky, tipped with greyish : 

 a narrow longitudinal band extends over the mid- 

 dle of the crown from the forehead : the feathers 

 of the back, and those that cover the rump, are 

 red, with black spots, and longitudinal reddish 

 white dashes : the scapulars and the wing-coverts 

 are grey-brown, marked with delicate black un- 

 dulated lines, and many black spots on their inner 

 webs : the breast, and the sides of tlie belly, the 

 thighs, and the abdomen, are bright grey, striped 

 transversely with black : the feathers on the sides 

 are slightly tinged with reddish : the wings are 

 grey-brown : the beak is brown ; and the legs are 

 as in the male. The young males greatly resemble 

 the female. 



