THE BIRDS OE SINGAPORE ISLAND 
Bustard-quails are usually flushed singly and fly very fast. In 
the g^rass they are often extremely difficult to flush, running 
with ^reat rapidity and trusting to their Iej>'S rather than to 
their wings as a means of escape, even in the presence of dogs. 
They fly straight enoug-h but the sportsman must be quick with 
his gun to bring them down. 
Other habits : — There are few birds in Singapore whose 
domestic economy would so thoroughly repay a diligetit and 
exhaustive enquiry on the part of a naturalist as the bustard- 
quail, and the job is confidently recommended to the tyro not 
only for the interesting observations that would accrue, but 
also for the most excellent training it would provide in patient 
hird-watching. In the bird-world the work of building the 
nest, of sitting on the eggs until they are hatched and of 
feeding the young is very frequently shared by the sexes, but 
in some cases the hen bird alone is made responsible for these 
duties. 
Only in a few cases is the sexual role reversed by the 
male alone undertaking the work, and it is especially to be 
noted that the instances occur among birds of very widely 
separated families. Ver>' few cases of tliis phenomenon have 
been recorded and curiously enough two of them occur in 
Malaya. With the Painted Snipe {Rostratitla c(if>cnsis) we are 
not concerned for although it has, in the i>ast, been recorded 
from Singapore, it certainly does not breed here, but the other 
Malayan species of these peculiar habits, the bustard-quail, 
is quite numerous in Singapore. 
It is easy to understand that this reversal of the more usual 
state of affairs gives rise to much thought and speculation 
particularly as to its origin, and any observations on the breed- 
ing habits of hemipodes are therefore of great value. 
A period of courtship is commonly to be noticed among 
birds. The males, usually more handsomely coloured and often 
presenting bizarre and wonderful "secondary sexual charac- 
ters" in the way of gorgeous plumage, elaborate crests, tails 
and frills, etc. compete with each other for the more plainly 
coloured hens. In some instances regular tournaments take 
place and it seems evident that the superior song of the cock 
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