THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
December I5th, 1908. — Appeared to be separating into pairs for the 
breeding season. 
January lOth, 1909. — Observed in pairs and appeared to be breeding. 
February 10th, 1909. — Heard them calling near my camp to-day. First 
heard for some time. 
March 30th, 1909. — ^Many birds were calling, but one cannot flush any as 
the grass is too thick. 
May 16th, 1909. — Have not seen any of these birds since leaving Wyndham, 
and I am now at Wild Dog, 170 miles south of that place. 
Mr. F. L. Berney, writing from the Richmond District, North Queensland, 
says: — “The appearance of the Brown Quail in this district varies much, owing, 
doubtless, to our uncertain climate. They appear to favour the months 
January to June ; it is not usual to come across them from July to September, 
while I find I have no record at all of this Quail during the last three months 
of the year. This does not show any migratory movement, but simply that 
they avoid these parts during the droughty half of the year. Actually July 
to October are our driest months ; November and December may bring us 
early storms, but they are so uncertain and patchy that the Quail would 
derive little benefit from them until January, when some of the grasses would 
be seeding and insects had time to multiply. 
“ To me it is pleasant to hear them calling in the evening from the vicinity of 
a bore stream : ‘ Bee’e quick, bee’e quick,’ the first two syllables drawn out 
almost into one — for it reminds me of Partridges in the old country, to which, 
too, they bear a strong resemblance when on the wing. Commencing a trifle 
before sundown, they relapse into silence about midnight, and, starting again 
as daylight approaches, they ease off towards sunrise and cease calling 
altogether shortly after. They generally go in coveys up to a dozen, and 
frequent moist ground where the vegetation is green and grows rank. 
“ On June 10th this year our cat brought in a bird that proved on dissection 
to have a hard-shelled dull white egg in the oviduct, which I judge would have 
been laid within twenty-four hours. 
“ They appear to be partly insectivorous and partly granivorous, as the 
stomach of one I examined contained nothing but seeds of what is locally 
called wild sorghum {Chionachne harbata). The bird’s crop, I may mention, 
contained a hundred of these large seeds, swallowed, of course, with their 
husks, while Mr. A. S. Le Souef, to whom I forwarded two stomachs for 
examination, kindly wrote me that one contained beetles only, and the other 
beetles, grasshoppers, and one grass seed.”* 
The bird figured is a female from Wyndham, North-West Australia, sent to 
me by Mr. J. P. Rogers, who collected it on September 29th, 1908. 
* F. D. Beraey, Emu, VI., p. 106 (1907). 
72 
