Nest
A depression in the ground, scantily lined with grass, placed in the shelter of a tuft of grass or other herbage.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 4; dull white, minutely speckled and marked with brown and sometimes grey; oval to pyriform; about 22 x 17 mm. Incubation: about 14 dys; by female. The first eggs in the clutch are usually larger than the others.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
May form superspecies with Common Buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus). Formerly considered conspecific with Common Buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus).
Formerly recognized subspecies yorki (north-eastern Australia) and pseutes (north-western Australia) now considered inseparable from melanota. Subspecies mayri sometimes merged with similar horsbrughi (New Guinea).
Subspecies celestinoi of Common Buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus) of south-eastern Philippines often referred to present species, on grounds of sympatry of two distinct Turnix forms on Mindanao. However, this sympatry remains to be demonstrated, and stronger evidence required to justify range extension of present species to include Philippines.
The following 14 subspecies are recognised:
beccarii Salvadori, 1875 - Sulawesi, Muna and Tukangbesi Is.
kinneari Neumann, 1939 - Peleng (Banggai Is).
obiensis Sutter, 1955 - Obi and Kai Is (Moluccas), Babar (Lesser Sundas).
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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BirdLife International Species Factsheet