CHESTNUT-BELLIED QUAIL. 
Adult male. General colour above black with pale shaft-lines which are broader and more 
pronounced on the lower back and rump ; crown of head black with a longitudinal 
line of white from the middle of the crown to the hind-neck ; feathers of the mantle 
rufous-brown crossed with black, streaked with narrow white shaft-lines and margined 
with lead-grey ; scapulars lead-grey with broken up markings of black which are sub- 
marginal on some of the longer feathers ; upper tail-coverts black with lead-grey 
margins ; wing-coverts greyish-brown with more or less tracings of black bars ; primary- 
coverts and quills pale brown ; tail-feathers lead-grey at the base and with a marginal 
notch at tips ; remainder deep chestnut like the under tail-coverts and middle of the 
abdomen ; sides of crown, breast and sides of body deep slate colour, some of the 
feathers bordering the chestnut of the under-surface ; a small white line from the base 
of the bill to the eye, followed by a black line below the eye which is continued along 
the sides of the face and joined to the black of the throat ; a longitudinal white patch 
enclosed between the black line below the eye and the black of the throat ; a semi- 
circular white collar which commences at the back of the ear-coverts and meets on the 
middle of the throat where it is broader ; this white collar is followed by a narrow 
line of black which separates it from the slate colour of the chest and upper 
breast; sides of breast more or less barred with black. “ Bill, black ; iris, red ; 
feet, yellow ” (J. T. Tunney). Total length, 130 mm, ; culmen, 12 ; wing, 74 ; tail, 26 ; 
tarsus, 20. Two apparently adult birds still retain a trace of chestnut on the outer 
margin of the greater wing-coverts. 
Adult female. General colour above reddish-brown streaked with white shaft-lines and black 
blotches or cross markings ; crovui of head black with a white line down the middle ; 
sides of crown, sides of face, and lower throat tawny ; wing-coverts pale reddish- 
brown finely barred with black and longitudinal white shaft-lines ; primary-coverts 
and quills pale brown ; outer primary white along the outer edge ; under-surface 
fulvous crossed by narrow black bars broad on the sides of the body and flanks, less on 
the thighs and under tail-coverts. Total length, 130 mm. ; culmen, 12 ; wing, 70 ; 
tail, 25 ; tarsus, 18. 
Nestling. Sooty-black everywhere except the throat which is bufl, and three indistinct 
streaks of the same colour on the top of the head. 
Mr. D. Seth-Smith tells me that the chicks are able to fly when ten days old, and 
are practically in adult plumage at six weeks. 
Nest. “ A hollow in the ground, hned, more or less, with grass, etc., and sheltered by 
herbage ” (Campbell). 
Eggs. Clutch, four ; oval in form, with a glossy surface ; and drab ground colour, 
minutely freckled with reddish-brown over the entire surface, but more thickly at 
the larger end. Axis, 14-15 mm. ; diameter, 17-18, 
Breeding season. August to January (Eamsay). March and April in Central Queensland 
(Barnard). 
Incubation-period (in captivity). Eighteen to twenty days (Seth-Smith). 
V 
Dr. Ramsay says : — “ The Little Swamp-Quail is found tolerably abundant 
in the marshy parts about Botany Bay and Southhead, in which situations it 
breeds freely, rearing often three broods in a season. It usually lays five 
eggs, in shape resembling those of Synoscus australis, but much smaller in size, 
being 1.1 inch in length, by .8 inch in breadth, and when fresh of a pale light 
green colour, dotted all over with blackish umber ; in some the ground colour 
is a dirty olive-yeUow ; others, again, are almost brown, with black dots. 
This species is known by our Sydney sportsmen rader the name of the ‘ King 
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