Nest
A depression in the ground, lined with dried grasses, placed in the shelter of a tuft of grass or rushes.
Eggs (Guide)
7 - 11, upto 20; creamy, finely freckled dusky brown; rounded oval to pyriform; about 28 x 23 mm. Incubation: about 20 - 22 days; by female.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
All subspecies except nominate ypsilophora have been considered separate species, Coturnix australis, but morphological differences between some of these greater than those between australis and ypsilophora. Populations of northern Queensland, north-western Australia and south-western Australia have been separated in subspecies queenslandica, cervina and sordida respectively, but differences slight, while there is no clear relation between geographical distribution and colour or pattern of plumage.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
ypsilophorus Bosc, 1792 - Tasmania.
raaltenii (Müller, S, 1842) - Lesser Sundas, on Flores, Timor and adjacent islands.
pallidior (Hartert, 1897) - Lesser Sundas, on Sumba and Sawu.
saturatior (Hartert, 1930) - Lowlands of northern New Guinea.
lamonti Mayr and Gilliard, 1954 - Moderate heights in mountains of central New Guinea.
dogwa (Mayr & Rand, 1935) - Lowlands of southern New Guinea.
plumbeus (Salvadori, 1894) - Lowlands of eastern New Guinea.
monticola (Mayr & Rand, 1935) - Alpine areas of south-eastern New Guinea.
mafulu (Mayr & Rand, 1935) - Southern slopes of mountains in south-eastern New Guinea.
australis (Latham, 1801) - Australia. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of King Quail (Synoicus chinensis).
Similar Species
Stubble Quail (Coturnix pectoralis) which has a white eye-brow, and lacks the barred underparts, and female King Quail (Synoicus chinensis) which has a small black streak under the eye and has less black crescent markings on the flanks.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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