G-enus COTUKNIX. 
Bill slender, slightly curved from the base ; the naral membrane partly feathered. Wings 
longer than in Perdicula ; the 1st and 2nd quill, or the 2nd, the longest. Tail lax, very short, 
concealed entirely by the coverts. Legs and feet moderately stout; the outer toe joined by a 
web at the base to the middle. 
COTURNIX CHINENSIS*. 
(THE CHINESE QUAIL.) 
Coturnix philippensis, Brisson, Orn. i. p. 454, pi. 25. fig. 1. 
Tetrao chinensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 277. no. 19 (1766), ex Edwards. 
Tetrao manillensis, Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat. i. p. 764 (1788), ? . 
Coturnix excalfactoria, Temm. Pig. et Gall. iii. pp. 515, 742 (1815). 
Coturnix flavipes, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1842, xi. p. 808, ? . 
Synoicus' ? chinensis, Gould, B. of Austr. vol. v. p. 92 (1848). 
Coturnix chinensis, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 255 (1849) ; Layard & Kelaart, Cat. 
B. Appendix, Prodromus, p. 60 (1853) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. 
p. 107 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 221. 
Excalfactoria chinensis, Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 591 (1864); Gould, B. of Asia, pt. 17 
(1867); Beavan, Ibis, 1868, p. 386 ; Swinh. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 401; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 
1872, p. 470; Ball, Str. Eeath. 1874, p. 428; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 26; Salvadori, 
Ucc. di Born. p. 311 (1874); Walden, Tr. Zool. Soc. 1875, p. 224; Hume, Nests and 
Eggs, iii. p. 553 (1875) ; Oates, Str. Eeath. 1875, p. 345 ; Hume, ibid. 1878, vii. p. 226, 
et 1879 (List Malay B.), p. 69 ; id. t. c. (List Ind. B.) p. 111. 
Excalfactoria australis, Gould, ILandb. B. of Austr. ii. p. 197 (1865). 
Excalfactoria sinensis, Hume, Str. Eeath. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), p. 447. 
Chinese Quail, Edwards, Illust. v. p. 77, pi. 247, <?; La Caille des Philippines, Brisson; 
Blue-breasted Quail, Painted Quail, Bain- Quail, Swamp-Quail, of Sportsmen. Pikau, 
Malay , Chaun-chan, China ; Pipit-lean, Borneo (Mottley). 
P andura-watuwa, Wenella-watuwa, Sinhalese. 
Adult male. Length 5-2 to 5-7 inches; wing 2-5 to 2-9 ; tail 0‘9 ; tarsus 0-8 to 0-9 ; middle toe and claw 0-8 to 085; 
bill to gape 0-45. 
Ins crimson or deep red ; bill blackish leaden, bluish at the base, in some with the culmen only bluish ; legs and feet 
rich yellow ; claws olive-brown. 
Old bird ( Galle). Crown, hind neck, back, and scapulars olive-brown, with a bluish cast on the back, and tinged with 
rus y m parts, c iefly on the occiput, inters capulary region, and back ; on the occiput and nape the feathers have 
This species has been placed by Bonaparte in a separate genus, Excalfactoria, based on the difference of plumage 
in the sexes and the slightly rounder wing. The latter is a variable character as regards some of the species restricted 
to Coturmx. The bill, legs, and feet in the present bird are those of a true Quail, and I therefore do not adont 
Bonaparte’s genus. 1 
5 E 
