In length they vary from r i to l'26, and in breadth from 0'82
to 095 ; but the average of twenty eggs is r i 8 by 089.
ALTHOUGH I think that, while both sexes vary a good deal in
size, the very largest birds are all females, and the very smallest
males ; and though probably these latter also average smaller than
the females, still there is such a perfect gradation of size in
both sexes, that it is only at the extreme ends of the scale that
you could find a bird of one sex whose dimensions would not
agree with those of some bird of the other sex. It seems useless,
therefore, to give the dimensions of the two sexes separately.
Length, Tl to 8'62 ; expanse, 13x1 to 147 ; wing, 4-0 to 4-55 ;
tail, fG to 2'25 ; tarsus, 0'9 to 115 ; bill from gape, o'6 to 073 ;
weight, 3'2 ozs. to 4'C2 ozs.
The irides are brown of varying shades, sometimes light,
sometimes dark, sometimes hazel.
The legs and feet are pale fleshy, sometimes with a more or
less strongly-marked brownish tinge, sometimes with a more or
le 1 decided yellow one ; claws light to dusky horny, occasionally
with purplish tint.
The bill is very variable, dusky or nearly black, greyish
black at tip ; dull pale bluish ; brownish horny above, bluish
below ; horny brown, Sec, arc all colours that I have recorded
from fresh specimens.
I have omitted to look into the question, but I am disposed
to suspect that these marked variations in the colours of the soft
parts will prove to be partly seasonal and partly due to nonage.
THE PLATE is a very fair representation of the ordinary Indian
type of Quail, but it is a pity that the throat of the male, the
portion of the plumage that varies most in this species, is so
turned away that the characteristic markings of the form that
occurs in India arc not ciearly shown.
Taking Quails throughout the three vast continents over which
they occur, their plumage varies very greatly, and to some extent
probably locally. Dresser says :—
" The variation in the colouration, and more especially in that
of the throat, of the male Quail is very great, and has been remarked
and commented on by many authors. One would certainly
be inclined to separate it into two or three species, were it not
that in a series of specimens the variation exhibited is so great
as to make it impossible to draw the line anywhere. The
ordinary form has the throat buffy white or rusty buff, encircled
below by two semicircular bands of a rusty brown or dark brown
colour, which join similarly-coloured lines down each side ot
the head ; but one sees almost as frequently specimens with the
throat partially or almost entirely covered with a blackish brown
or rusty brown patch ; and another extreme form has the
entire throat and sides of the head rich rusty red. This last form
is but seldom seen in Northern and Central Europe; but I have
seen examples from Southern Europe, and it appears to be the
predominant form in the Azores, in the Cape Verde Islands,
Mauritius, South Africa, China, and Japan: in some of these,
however, there is more or less black on the throat. A specimen
from Spain closely resembles examples from Japan in having
the throat rusty red, but has the rest of the plumage rather duller
in colour. Examples from the Azores are much smaller
than the average of European examples, the wing measuring
only 3'6 to 3'8 inches, and are rather more richly and brightly
coloured ; the throat is rusty red, in some without any black,
whereas in others there is a small or large patch of blackish
brown on the chin and throat.
" Specimens from the Cape Verde Islands closely resemble
those from the Azores ; and there is one from Mauritius in the
British Museum which is very dark in general colouration and
has a red throat. I possess three males from Port Elizabeth,
South Africa, one of which has the throat pale rufous buff, one
still lighter, and the third rich rufous—all three having the black
on the throat much developed ; and the breast is more rufous
than in European examples, the upper parts being much darker.
A male from Yarkand has the throat white, the two semicircular
bands rusty brown, and a long blackish brown spot on the chin ;
and the upper parts are pale in colouration.
"Specimens from China and Japan have the sides of the face
and the entire throat rich rusty red, with but seldom any.trace
of a black spot, and are a trifle smaller in size than the average
of European birds ; and this extreme form seems almost to
be the only one found in Eastern Asia. I was at first inclined
to treat this form as distinct, but I found examples from
southern Europe, the Azores, and Mauritius precisely agreeing
with others from China and Japan.
" Naumann cites all the above varieties as occurring in Germany,
and says that those which have the throat and cheeks
dark rusty brown are called' Mohrenwachtcln'; those which have
the throat banded with dark brown on a white or a rusty yellowish
ground are called ' Kreuzwachteln'; and those with the black
patch on the throat ' Kohlhane.' He also adds that there is
great variation in size, some being larger and others smaller."
Though there are trifling variations in the extent of the markings
and very noticeable differences in tint, some being everywhere
paler, others darker and more rufous, still the great
majority of our Quail belong to one type.
In the male, a band runs from the gape, under the eye, to
just the base of the ear-coverts ; immediately below this, a cross
band starts, sweeping across the throat with a downward
convexity ; from the same point where the first starts, a second
cross band also originates, which, running for less than a quarter