94 - 
coverts buffy- white, without spots or markings; irides straw-yellow, 
passing into black at the point ; feet greenish yellow. 
Total length, 4^- inches ; bill, vjing , 3^; tarsi, -i. 
Independently of the plains of South Australia formerly given as 
the restricted habitat of this species, I have lately received a letter 
from Mr. Strange of Sydney, in which he states a female had been 
procured in the neighbourhood of Botany Bay. I am also in pos- 
session of an egg of this bird, which in general character resembles 
that of Turnix ; it is somewhat suddenly contracted at the smaller 
o 
end, the ground-colour is stone-white, sprinkled with small blotches 
of umber-brown and vinous-grey, the latter colour appearing as if 
beneath the surface of the shell, the sprinkled markings predomi- 
nating at the larger end ; the length of the egg is 1 inch and one- 
eighth by seven-eighths in breadth. 
443. Pedionomus torquatus, Gould , female . . Yol. Y. PL 80. 
microurus, Gould , male. 
Genus Turnix. 
However widely the members of this genus are dispersed, inha- 
biting as one or other of them do all quarters of the Old World, Au- 
stralia is the great nursery of the race, since it is in that country that 
we find the species more numerous than elsewhere ; they not only 
inhabit every part of the continent that has yet been explored, but 
they extend their range to the islands adjacent to the coast and 
even to Van Diemen’s Land ; some species enjoy a wide range across 
the continent from east to west, while others are very local ; grassy 
plains and stony ridges thickly interspersed with scrubs and grasses 
are the situations they frequent ; their eggs are invariably four in 
number, pointed in form, and very like those of the Sandpipers ; 
their only nest is a few grasses placed in a hollow on the ground ; in 
their habits and actions they differ considerably from the Quails 
and Partridges, and, strange as it may appear, approach more closely 
to the Tringce , particularly to those species with the more attenuated 
form of bill ; when rising from almost beneath your feet, they fly, 
especially the smaller species, straight and with arrow-like swiftness to 
the distance of one or two hundred yards, and then suddenly pitch 
to the ground. Their flesh, although eatable, is dry and deficient in 
flavour when compared with that of the Quails and Partridges. 
444. Turnix melanogaster. 
Hemipodius melanogaster, Gould . . 
. Yol. Y. PI. 81. 
445. Turnix varius. 
Hemipodius varius 
. Yol. V. PL 82. 
446. Turnix scintillans. 
447. Hemipodius scintillans, Gould .... 
. Yol. V. PL 83. 
448. Turnix melanotus. 
Hemipodius melanotus, Gould .... 
. Yol. V. PL 84. 
