326 
Quails . 
Tor Jibout ten or eleven years. It laii^^es over the Peninsula 
of India and according to Ogville tirant extends to Assam, 
Mainpur, Chittagong and Pegu; also very prol)ably to Arrakan. 
Description: Adult male. I'pper parts sandy-brown, 
variegated with pale bull shaft streaks and black bars anrl 
markings; chin and throat white, with a black niai'k down 
the centre, which extends right and left at the l)ase of the 
throat in a crescentic form; chest and breast rufous -brown, 
with a large black patcli in the centre; remainder of undei- 
parts palish buff -brown: Total length 5 inches, tail l-J. 
Adult female. Differs from the male in that it lacks 
the black mark down tlu- luiilille of tiic tlii (iat. and the chest and 
breast are thickly spotted with black-biown . 
Wild Life. The following notes ai'e compiled from 
Hume's " Birds of India:" The plahis of India are its real 
home, though it is found in the hills up to 6,000 feet as a 
straggler. In the breeding season it is met with in pairs, 
as soon as the young are able to fly, in small coveys consisting 
of the parent birds and their young — in the cold season they are 
only met with singly — they run less but fly more than the 
Common Quail. Their food consists of various seeds and 
live insects. 
The nest is a mere depression in the ground and sav(^ 
for a few stray grass stems, quite unlined. The eggs usually 
number about nine — the colour varies from yellowish -white 
to brownish-buff — the markings are very variable in different 
clutches — some clutches are finely spotted and dotted all over 
with blackish or brown — others are heavily blotched and 
marked with rich brown — while there are others intermiodiate 
between the two. 
I have only had an odd male of this species, it was very 
tame and one had to be careful when in the aviary not to tre:ul 
upon it. I seldom saw it upon the wing and tlien only in tiie 
dusk of the evening. I have found most species of Quaal on 
tlie move at niidiii^^'lit wlienevei' 1 have gone the round of 
I lie a\-iary late. It paired u]i with a Common (i)uail, and a 
number of eggs were droi)ped al>oul the aviary and though 
thesis were gathered together and placed in a dej^nission under 
their shelter board, no attempt was made to incubate Jheni — 
in the end mice and otlim' birds sucked theii' contents and the 
