. Indian sporting birds . it is larger than either of these,to say nothing of other differences ; the closed wing measures atleast four inches, whereas it does not attain this length even inthe rain-quail, while the painted quail is far smaller again thanthis. The distinctions of the rare Japanese quail will appearlater. There is nothing very noteworthy in the general plumage ofthe common quail; it is often called grey quail, but the nameis misleading, as the plumage is not grey or even greyish, butlight brown, well variegated with black, and diversified above bywell-marked longitudinal streak
. Indian sporting birds . it is larger than either of these,to say nothing of other differences ; the closed wing measures atleast four inches, whereas it does not attain this length even inthe rain-quail, while the painted quail is far smaller again thanthis. The distinctions of the rare Japanese quail will appearlater. There is nothing very noteworthy in the general plumage ofthe common quail; it is often called grey quail, but the nameis misleading, as the plumage is not grey or even greyish, butlight brown, well variegated with black, and diversified above bywell-marked longitudinal streaks of cream-colour. The pinion-quills of the wing are drab, barred with buff, and this is the chietdistinction from the rain-quail, in which these quills are uniformdrab with no markings. The difference between the sexes is not apparent on theupper plumage, but is noticeable enough below, where the cockis a plain clear uniform buff, with the throat marked with sooty-black on a whitish or brownish-red ground. In the hen the. - ^, q: LU o oac llJ tx COMMON QUAIL 261 tliroat is always all white, but the breast is marked with shortblackish streaks as in a lark, and the general tone below is palerand not so buffy, more of a cream-colour. The largest quail ofthis species are hens, but many cocks are as big as most of theirmates ; the weight ranges from 32 ounces to 462 ounces—a bigvariation for so small a bird, but a good deal has to be allowedfor condition, the quail being a bird which under favourable cir-cumstances gets very fat. Nothing need be said about its valuefor the table, since it has been esteemed in this capacity for untoldages, and therefore persecuted by man longer and more thoroughlythan any other species of bird whatever. Nevertheless, it is stillexceedingly common almost throughout the north temperateparts of the Old World, and in India, which is one of its greatwintering-places, is the most abundant of all game birds duringthe winter months, though its numbers va
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