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white, changing to fulvous on the longer secondaries and on the lower part of the hack ; the throat, fore 
neck, sides, and flanks ferruginous brown, and the breast fulvous white, all more or less varied with black ; 
on the neck and breast each feather is marked near the tip with a broad crescent, and on the webs with 
irregular spots of brownish black ; the feathers covering the sides, and the long feathers overlapping the 
thighs, have a broad stripe of white down the shaft and are streaked and marbled on both webs with black ; 
the abdomen is white, the sides fulvous, and the under tail-coverts dark fulvous varied with black. The 
female is, moreover, slightly larger than the male in all its proportions. 
Young male. In the young male the prevailing colour of the upper surface more nearly approaches that of the 
adult female. The rufous colouring on the cheeks and throat is very pale, and the lunate marks are less 
distinct than in the adult. The plumage of the underparts is largely washed with fulvous, aud the dark 
crescents are broader and more conspicuous. 
Young female. The only perceptible difference in the markings of the young female is that the dark crescents 
on the under surface are better defined and less blotched than in the adult bird. In my old collection (now 
in the Colonial Museum) there are two young females from the same nest, in one of which the prevailing tint 
of the plumage resembles that of the adult female, while in the other it approaches very near to that of the 
adult male. 
Very young state. Crown of the head light fulvous varied with dark brown ; ear-spots black ; back and upper 
surface of wings yellowish brown, with dull black markings, each feather with a lanceolate stripe of fulvous 
white down the centre ; throat and fore neck huffy white ; breast and underparts pale buff, each feather 
marked near the tip with two converging elongate spots of a dull black colour. Bill, tarsi, and toes pale 
brown. 
Obs. A beautiful male specimen obtained many years ago at Whangarei, in the North Island, and presented to 
me by Major Mair, differs from all my South-Island examples in having the whole of the plumage darker, 
the breast being almost entirely brownish black, relieved only by a few touches of fulvous white ; the rufous 
colour on the face and throat is brighter, the lanceolate markings on the upper surface are very distinct, and 
the abdomen is fulvous. 
This handsome species — the only indigenous representative in New Zealand of the order Gallin®' — 
was “ on the verge of extinction ” when I published my former edition. It is probably now extinct, 
for no specimen has been heard of for at least twelve years. In the early days of the colony it was 
excessively abundant in all the open country, and especially on the grass-covered downs of the South 
Island. The first settlers, who carried with them from the old country their traditional love of sport, 
enjoyed some excellent Quail-shooting for several years ; and it is matter of local history that Sir 
D. Moni'o and Major Eichmond, in 1848, shot as many as forty-three brace in the course of a single 
day within a few miles of what is now the city of Nelson : while a Canterbury writer has recorded 
that “ in the early days, on the plains near Selwyn, a bag of twenty brace of Quail was not looked 
upon as extraordinary sport for a day’s shooting.” But, partly owing to the introduction of dogs, 
cats, and rats, and partly to the prevalence of the so-called “ bush-fires ” or burning of the runs (a 
necessary incident of sheep-farming in a new country), the Quail rapidly disappeared, and if not so 
already, it will ere long be numbered among the many extinct forms of animal life in New Zealand. 
Its place, however, has been more than adequately supplied by several introduced species, all of which 
appear to thrive well and multiply in their new home. Among these we may enumerate the follow- 
ing as being now permanently established in the country, viz. the common English Pheasant ( Phasianus 
colchicus), the Chinese Pheasant (P. torquatus), the Partridge ( Perdix cinereci ), the Californian Quail 
( Ortyx calif ornicus ), and the Australian Quail ( Coturnix pectoralis) *. The last-mentioned bird closely 
* To these may now bo added the Swamp-Quail ( Synoicus australis), which has rapidly spread itself over the North Island, 
being plentiful even in the Taupo country. Three specimens of this bird (obtained at Tauranga) were sent to me bv the Hon. 
Dr. Pollen, the then Premier, and I afterwards handed them over to the Colonial Museum with the following note : — “ Two of 
