However widely the members of this genus are dispersed, inhabiting as one or other of them do all quarters of the Old World, Australia 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 Tringæ, 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 | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 81. |
| 445. Turnix varius. | |
| Hemipodius varius | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 82. |
| 446. Turnix scintillans. | |
| 447. Hemipodius scintillans, Gould | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 83. |
| 448. Turnix melanotus. | |
| Hemipodius melanotus, Gould | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 84. |
| 449. Turnix castanotus. | |
| Hemipodius castanotus, Gould | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 85. |
| 450. Turnix pyrrhothorax. | |
| Hemipodius pyrrhothorax, Gould | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 86. |
| 451. Turnix velox. | |
| Hemipodius velox, Gould | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 87. |
Family TETRAONIDÆ, Leach.
Genus Coturnix, Mœhr.
One true Quail is all that has yet been described as inhabiting Australia; as might be expected, it is a denizen of the plains, as well as of all the open districts of any extent where grass-lands occur; it also resorts to the arable districts in great abundance. A difference exists in specimens from the western and eastern coasts, the former having a deep fawn or light rufous tint pervading the under surface; and it is possible that this difference of colouring may be characteristic of a second and distinct species.
| 452. Coturnix pectoralis, Gould | [Vol. V. ] Pl. 88. |
Genus Synoïcus, Gould.
Generic characters.
As in Perdix, but with no spur on the tarsi, and the tail almost obsolete.
The great paucity of the Gallinaceæ in Australia is very remarkable, the members of the present genus being almost the only representatives of that group of birds inhabiting the country. The similarity of the habits and economy of these birds to those of the true Partridges, particularly to our own well-known species the Perdix cinerea, allies them more nearly to those birds than to the Quails.