PERDICIN^. COTURNIX. ORTYX. 237 
dorsal line straight. Head entirely feathered. Tarsi shorty 
compressed, stout, anteriorly covered with two series of scu- 
tella, posteriorly with two series of scales, hut without spur 
or tubercles ; toes rather slender, slightly marginate ; claws 
slender, short, compressed, slightly arched. Wings with 
the first quill scarcely shorter than the second ; tail extremely 
short, much rounded, the feathers weak and decurved. 
The Quails differ from the Partridges chiefly in having 
the head entirely feathered, the wings straighter and more 
pointed, with the secondary quills shorter, the tail much 
smaller, so as to be concealed by the neighbouring feathers, 
and decurved. The males are said to be polygamous, and 
extremely pugnacious. 
154. CoTURNIX DACTYLISONANS. WANDERING QuAIL, 
Upper parts variegated with reddish-grey, and brownish- 
black, and marked with whitish longitudinal pointed streaks, 
of which are three bands on the head, Male with the throat 
dark brown, and a double interrupted black band on the fore 
neck. Female with the throat yellowish-grey. 
Male, 8, 14, 4J, /j, if, Female, 7^. 
The Quail is extensively distributed over Asia, Africa, and 
Europe, being in some regions stationary, in others migratory. 
In England it arrives about the middle of May, and departs 
in September ; but instances have occurred of its remaining 
in winter both in England and in Ireland. It is not common 
anywhere^ and is very seldom met with in Scotland. Its food 
consists of seeds, herbage, and occasionally insects ; and its 
haunts are chiefly the cultivated fields and pastures. The 
males are extremely pugnacious, and said to be polygamous. 
The nest is a slight hollow, and the eggs, from twelve to 
twenty, are reddish-yellow, yellowish-white, or greenish-grey, 
marked all over with dark brown spots and blotches. It is 
believed that this is the species which afforded the Israelites 
the miraculous supply of flesh in the desert. 
Tetrao Coturnix, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 278. — Perdix Cotur-* 
nix, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. ii. 491. — Coturnix dactylisonans, 
Common Quail, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 233. 
GENUS LXXXI. OETYX. COLIN. 
Bill very short, strong, compressed ; upper mandible hav- 
ing its dorsal line much arched, the sides convex, the tip 
