332 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
In both sexes the outer webs of the primaries are barred with rufous. 
Bill horny brown ; irides yellow-brown j legs pale fleshy. {Jerdon.) 
Length 7 inches, tail 1*7, wing 4-3, tarsus 1, bill from gape '6. The 
female is usually, but not always, larger than the male. 
The plumage of this Quail varies a great deal. I have not been able to 
examine Burmese birds ; but the above description represents a specimen in 
ordinary average plumage. 
The Common European Quail is a rather rare visitor to Burmah, judging 
from the few instances in which it has been met with . Mr. Blanford procured 
it in Pegu ; and Mr. Hume has received it from near the mouth of the 
Bassein Creek ; Mr. Blyth states that it has been found in Arrakan and 
in Martaban (which now constitutes the northern portion of the Tenas- 
serim Division); and, lastly, Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay obtained it in 
Karennee. In short, it is not a bird which the ordinary sportsman in 
Burmah may reasonably expect to shoot. 
This Quail is more or less migratory, and occurs, according to season, 
over the greater portion of Continental Asia, not extending, however, so 
far south as Ceylon or Cochin China, Siam and the Malay peninsula. 
Mons. Taczanowski informs me that its northern limit in Siberia is Lake 
Baikal, and that north of this place it is replaced by C. japonica, a species 
not generally recognized, but one which, in that gentleman^s opinion, is 
perfectly distinct, difi'ering from C. communis in having the chin and throat 
rufous and in wanting the black on and about the throat. 
Passing from Asia, the Common Quail is found in Europe except in the 
extreme north, and throughout Africa. 
The few Qnails of this species which may be met with in Burmah will 
be found in the cold weather, the season at which they migrate south. 
They frequent grain-fields, thin low grass and stubble, feeding both on 
grain and insects. The nest is a slight depression in the ground lined 
with a little grass ; and the eggs, which are numerous, are yellowish or 
buff speckled witli reddish brown. Comparatively few Common Quails 
remain in India to breed ; and the nest is not likely to be found in Burmah. 
