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EXCALFACTORIA MINIMA, Gow.

Minute Quail.

Excalfactoria minima, Gould in Proce. of Zool. Soc., part xxvil. (1859) p. 128.

 

Tur oldest known species of this peculiar form of Gallimaceous birds is the Zetrao chinensis of the earlier
authors—a species whose range of habitat at least extends from China to the peninsula of India, but not, as
was formerly believed, to Australia, the bird there found proving to be distinct and having been charac-
terized by me as such under the specific term of australis. A supposed third species, believed to inhabit
New Guinea, has, like the Australian bird been named after the country it is said to inhabit. In sup-
port of the belief in its existence, I may mention that Mr. Wallace obtained on the island of Gilolo a female
(with its egg) which probably is that sex of the New Guinea bird; but it may be the female of a species
the male of which is unknown to us. In Africa, a bird of this form occurs which is quite distinct from the
others, and which has been named ddansoni by M. Verreaux. These are all very closely allied to Coturniw
on the one hand, and Synozcus on the other, but, in my opinion, have been very properly separated from both
under the generic title of Lvcalfactoria, which will doubtless be hereafter retained for them.

On comparing the bird represented on the accompanying Plate, of which Mr. Wallace brought several
specimens from Macassar, with the other members of the genus, it was found to be so very different that I
had no alternative but to regard it as distinct; and I therefore assigned to it the specific name of minima as
expressive of its diminutive size. _ It 1s, in fact, the very smallest of the Gallimacez that has yet been discovered ;
at the same time it is very similar in its general contour and markings to the other Mvcalfactorie.

The male has the forebead and sides of the head grey ; crown of the head, all the upper surface, and
wing-coverts reddish brown, conspicuously spotted and minutely freckled with brownish black; a line of
buff down the crown and uape, and a narrow line of brownish white down the centre of the feathers of the
upper surface, changing to broad conspicuous stripes of buff on the lower part of the back and tail-coverts ;
wings pale brown ; chin and throat black, within which on each side is an oblong patch of white;
below the black a broad crescent of white, fringed on the sides with black, and bounded below bya
narrow semicrescent of deep black; under surface grey, spotted on the flanks like the upper surface ;
line down the centre of the abdomen, thighs and under tail-coverts chestnut-red; bill black; feet
yellowish.

The female is very similar in the colouring and markings of the upper surface, but has the forehead and
stripe over the eye buff; the chin creamy white, gradually deepening into a gorget of buff on the breast ;
the remainder of the under surface pale buff, each feather crossed by three or four narrow, somewhat
curved bars of brownish black.

The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size.

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