4 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
the larger measured i6i inches from tip of tail to 
tip of beak, the smaller only 13^ inches. The beak 
in the former was if inch long and i inch deep at 
base, in the latter i|- inch long and less than f inch 
deep. Generally speaking, the larger bird was about 
twice the size of the other, and was dull blue where 
the smaller bird was deep blue. The larger one 
had the under side of the flappers and the rim at the 
bottom of their upper side yellowish. In the smaller 
bird these parts were pure white. 
STUBBLE QUAIL 
Coturnix pectoralis pectoralis 
In early October, while yet the green countryside is 
starred with myriad yellow blooms of the Cape Weed, 
and in the touch of the north wind there is but a 
light and transient promise of hot days to come, a 
sharp triple note from some roadside crop may inform 
the bird-wise wayfarer that the Quail are making 
love. Heard for the first time, the call seems hardly 
strong enough to proceed from so large a bird, and 
indeed for years I imagined the quick " two-to-weep " 
was the note of a Lark, until one evening at Apollo 
Bay, walking over a lush-grassed river-flat, I heard 
it quite close before me and straightway flushed a 
fine Quail. 
Their numbers vary from year to year, but at one 
time or another every bit of crop land from a mile 
