THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
back, with ochreous, black and white markings ; lores and a line over the eye. 
ear-coverts, sides of face and throat pale rufous, as also the flanks and under tail- 
coverts ; fore-neck and sides of breast brighter rufous, the feathers on the latter 
barred or spotted with black ; middle of abdomen whitish ; axillaries and aspect 
of wings below pale grey. “ Bill, distal portion brown, basal part yellow ; iris 
greyish-brown ; tarsi and toes dull yellow ” (J. P. Rogers). Total length, 160 mm. ; 
culmen, 14 ; wing, 80 ; tail, 25 ; tarsus, 21. 
Adult male. Smaller than the female, but similar in plumage, with less chestnut on the 
upper- surface, and less vinous- chestnut on the neck ; the inner secondaries without 
any chestnut, but mottled with black and ochreous-buff vermiculations. Bill 
yellow, the distal half and the tip of the lower mandible brown ; iris white ; feet 
yellow. Total length, 135 mm. ; culmen, 12 ; wing, 78 ; tail, 20 ; tarsus, 17. 
Nest. “ A scantily grass-hned hollow in the ground, sheltered by a convenient tuft of grass 
or low bush ” (North). 
Eggs. Clutch, four. Eggs collected on the Dawson River, North Queensland, have the 
ground colour very pale slaty-grey, almost entirely hidden by brown spots, 
intermixed with larger blotches of dark slaty-grey. Surface smooth and very 
glossy. Axis, 25 mm. ; diameter, 19. 
“ These eggs can easily be distinguished from those of T. velox by being much 
darker and the surface of the shell bright and glossy ” (North). 
Breeding season. October to January (Ramsay). 
The present species belongs to the section of the genus, in which, according to 
Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, the tarsus is longer than the middle toe and claw ; the 
plumage of the two sexes is not conspicuously difierent, though they are 
not precisely alike in colour. The centre tail-feathers are not lengthened or 
pointed, nor are they edged with white or buff, while the feathers of the back do 
not show any scaly appearance. There are no bars on the breast, and the 
throat is never black. The margins of the scapulars are, however, edged with 
golden-buff, this being the most conspicuous character of the species. Mr. Ogilvie- 
Grant* further says : “In the female the rufous and black markings of the 
upper surface become rather more faint as age advances, and a wide light 
rufous nuchal collar is developed, while the superciliary stripe and ear-coverts 
become bright buff, as also the throat, but to a less degree.” 
Little seems to have been written of the life-history of this bird. 
Mr. A. J. North| writes : “Of the three small species of Turnix found in 
Australia, two of them, T. velox and T. pyrrJiothorax, give decided preference 
to the open grassy plains of the inland districts, while Turnix melanotus is 
essentiaUy an inhabitant of the low marshy ground and damp scrubs contiguous 
to the eastern coast of Australia. Near Sydney the latter species is not 
uncommon in the neighbourhood of Randwick, Botany, and La Perouse.” 
The birds figured and described were collected on Parry’s Creek, near 
Wyndham, North West Australia, by Mr. J. P. Rogers, in December, 1908. 
* Ibis, p. 468 (1889). 
f Rec. Austr". Mus., I., p. 195 (1891). 
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