QUAILS. 
4i5 
where only in the males of the bloocl-pheasants. These birds ramble about the 
hillsides, at an elevation of about three thousand to four thousand feet, in bevies or 
parties of six or eight to a dozen ; and are exceedingly swift of foot, never leaving 
the jungle, and rarely taking wing. Their note is a soft mellow whistle, chiefly 
heard in the morning, or when they have been separated. Their nearest ally is the 
black wood-partridge (Melanoperdix niger), ranging over much the same area, but 
not found in Java. The male has the whole plumage glossy black, while that of 
the female is mostly chestnut, the scapulars barred with black, and the upper-parts, 
sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts mottled with the same colour. 
The most advanced form of the partridge type of wing is found 
Qusuis. q Ua p S) as we n as in the snow-partridges; all of which have the 
first flight-feather but little shorter than the second, and equal to the third, while 
the tenth is much the shortest. Accordingly, when the wing is expanded the 
vertical angle of an imaginary triangle is formed by the second quill, instead of 
by the fifth or sixth. The common or migratory quail (Coturnix communis), 
ranges over an enormous area, being found over Europe, Africa, and Asia, north of 
the Himalaya. In Eastern Asia a distinct species, the Japanese quail ( G . japonica), 
is found, but during the breeding-season many of the common quail invade these 
countries, with the result that the two interbreed. The male of the common quail 
may be recognised by its white throat with a black anchor-shaped mark down the 
