324 
Quails. 
beautiful of the Quail tril)0, an adult male being- a i)filliaiit 
and handsomely clad fellow (inly a coloured plate pi-operly 
depicts it. 
The adult male is olive -brown on the upper parts, the 
feathers of the mantle are barred with black and have light 
shaft streaks; wings darker l)rown with the coverts more 
or less mahogany, red and splashed in the centre with slaty- 
blue; the forehead, lores, ear -coverts, and breast also slaty - 
blue; chin and throat black; from the sides of each nnandible 
extend two white streaks extern lin y to the ear coverts and 
divided by a narrow black line; a crescentic white collar 
borders the black throat, which is margined with black; the 
middle of chest, abdomen, ventral region, and tail mahogany- 
red; bill black with a leaden sheen; legs and feet ochre - 
yellow; total length 5^ inches, tail 1^. 
The female is simply a plain brown bird, the feathers of the 
upper parts being barred with black, and have light shaft 
streaks; the throat is white; sides of face slightly rufous; 
under parts pale buff, barred with black on chest, sides and 
flanks. 
Range: This is very extensive; they are found in Ceylon, 
the Indian Peninsula, the Indo-Chinese countries; Formosa, 
Celebes, and Ternate. It also occurs in Australia and this 
form was given specific rank by Gould as E. aastralis. 
With so wide a range, it is not sui'prising that there are local 
variations both in size and colouration 
Wild Life: They keep in pairs but at the end of the 
breeding season they are found in small coveys, consisting of 
the parent birds and their young. 
According to Hume, swampy, grassy-lands and meadows 
are their favourite haunts, and they are seldom found far from 
such, but they wander into low bush-jungle, the edges of low- 
standing crops, and also into grassy patches along the sides of 
roads. 
They feed chiefly on grass-seeds, and so far as .f-funic's 
ol)servations went, very little on either ui'aiu or insects (they 
are certainly very keen on mealworms, gentles, and live ants' 
" eggs " in the aviary). 
The hen sits, but the male is always to be found close 
at hand; when the yomig ar'e hatched l)oth parents accompany 
