COTUKNIX CHINENSIS. 
759 
commoner. Mr. Oates writes of it The Blue-breasted Quail is common in many parts of the Pegu 
plains. I first met with it in June, and throughout the rains it continues to be common. I am inclined to 
think that it comes to Lower Pegu at the beginning of the rains, and leaves as soon as the business of 
breeding is over.” In Tenasserim it is sparingly distributed throughout the province according to Mr. Hume. 
In the Malay Peninsula, further south than Tenasserim, and connecting this province with the Malay 
islands, it must needs be found ; and in Mr. Hume’s List of Birds of that region it is recorded from 
Malacca and Nealys. It is likewise found in Penang, whence I have seen a specimen sent by Dr. Cantor. 
Iioni Sumatra it was recorded by Raffles, and from Java by Horsfield; and in Borneo it has been obtained 
in Banjermassing by Mottley, in Sarawak by Mr. H. Everett, and in Labuan by Governer Ussher. North- 
ward it extends to the Philippines, from which islands it was first made known, and where it is common in 
Negros ; and thence it ranges to Formosa, and on the mainland it inhabits South China, being also found in 
the island of Hainan. < 
What islands form the connecting link between Java and Borneo and Australia I am unable to say; 
but this little Quail is evidently found on some of their intervening chain, and thus extends into the great 
is and continent. There it is found, according to Gould, in “ nearly every locality. In some seasons,” he 
writes it is very numerous in such low and humid districts as are clothed with dense and luxuriant grasses 
and other vegetable productions.” It is not uncommon in South Australia, and I have seen it myself in 
Victoria not far from Melbourne. 
T ‘ ,i ' *Utle bill loves damp spots, aod thus frequents low-lying grassy hollows in open jungle, 
fifo' >“ d ~« r S—-Mds, moist fern-brakes, fcc. It associates in small covies, and is not difficult » 
liMe 1 SY ' h ' • °V ' e * f "' 118 *** « *** I* »t strong, anti it takes but 
tele 1 nttmg to bring it down. In the south of Ceylon, where it is more numerous than elsewhere, it affords 
fair shooting, particularly ,n uueult, rated paddy-lands, where it is sure to be found among rank herbage. 
in the TTrr ° f ,. Co ° mbo > where it is not uncommon, it affects the field, of water-gras, grown 
in the damp hollows by natives for horse food; and in the evening I , ue d to find it feeding in thLtubb" o . 
portions which had been cut : when Hushed it would fly off into the tall standing grass and was difficult 
find again u ithout a dog 1 lam under the impression, however, that they do not run like many game-birds 
out lie very close after alighting, refusing to rise unless almost trodden upon. It is, as a rule most silent but 
occasionally it will utter a low cheep, cheep, when put up ; and this I noticed particularly in the case 'of a 
bird which I appeared to have wounded with “dust” shot on first firing at it 
littwV 11 ™ in pTu nem ? tj Hke ° ther Quail ’ but re quires a ™omy aviary to dwell in. Jerdon says 
concerning its habits; but he remarks that when the young are full-grown they disperse all over the 
o i t h P t ? oi * * * * * 7 r° gUnS- he Same Writer r6marks that tbe y are netted iu great numbers in some parts 
_ nt , • t , ry ’ a “ d ““y are also cau ght in hair nooses. The Nepalese have an ingenious way of catching Quail Thev 
their h P rl ° lmitatl ° n lloms on thelr heads aud walk slowly about the stubble-fields, twisting some blades of ’ erass U, 
th6 f amping if by Cattl6; as birds are not alarmed byca^ they 
driving any Quail they see under a small net, which they then drop and secure the bird. Its note duriim it,,- 
breeding- season is hkened by Col. Irby to tbe syllables quit que-twit. b 
Nidification .— In India tbe Quail that remain to breed lay in March and April. Mr. Ilume describes a nest which 
e ound in the Purneah district as “ a shallow saucer-like depression scratched by the bird and lined with a few blades 
o dry grass. It was placed in a tuft of grass and dwarf Zizyphus on a ridge separating two millet-fields. The nest 
contained nine eggs absolute yin the act of hatching off ; we caught,” he writes “ the female on the nest, examined X 
eggs, found the point of the bills protruding in two, so put them gently back and put the mother on the top, where she 
sat winking at ns, but never attempted to leave the nest.” r 
Tbe eggs, which are broad pointed ovals, are “ clear yellowish or reddish buff, and they are thickly speckled and 
reckled, or more thinly spotted or blotched, with deep reddish brown, or at times bluish black. The average of m'n , 
eggs is 1-16 by 0-91 inch.” ° a&e ot llmt 
