In birds having both sexes the same color each bird usually does its share of domestic work, sitting on the eggs, feeding the young, etc. Where the male is more brightly colored, he, as a rule, does not sit on the eggs, for he would be visible to a bird of prey sailing overhead, and so would probably be killed and the eggs taken. The great naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, thus regards the quiet coloration of most female birds as a protection during the nesting season. The gaudy coloration of many male birds has been explained by Darwin as being due to sexual selection, the female choosing as a mate the most gaily colored or most attractive bird. Though the sitting bird is usually protectively colored, it was our good fortune, on a Summer School excursion, attended by His Excellency the Governor (Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael), a keen Nature-lover, and the Director of Education (Mr. F. Tate), to find the gorgeously-colored male Golden-breasted Whistler (Thickhead) sitting on the eggs in full daylight. It was noted, however, that the open nest was unusually well protected by an overhead bushy branch. ==== [Page 15] ORDER III.--TURNICIFORMES, HEMIPODES. F. 14. TURNICIDAE (8), Button (Bustard) Quail, 27 sp.--14(14)A., 9(6)O., 3(0)P., 4(4)E. 7 26 =7 Red-Backed Quail= (Black-backed, Orange-breasted), _Turnix maculosa_, Cel., N.G., N.A., E.A., S.A. Nom. r. _marshy_ 7 Back brown; crown blackish; sides, breast large black spots; abdomen lighter; no hind toe; f., larger. Weed-seeds, insects. =8* Painted Quail= (Speckled, Butterfly), Varied Turnix, New Holland Partridge (e), _T. varia_, A., T. Nom. r. _sandy_ 8 Upper rufous-brown with buff, black lines; breast, face spotted; no hind toe; f., larger. Weed-seeds, insects. =9 Red-chested Quail= (Chestnut-breasted, Yellow), _T. pyrrhothorax_, A. exc. W.A. Nom. v.r. _marshy_ 6 Upper dark-brown with buff, black lines; breast sandy-red; abdomen whitish; no hind toe; f., much larger, brighter. Weed-seeds, insects. =10 Little Quail= (Dottrel, Swift-flying, Button), _T. velox_, A. Nom. c. _open plains_ 5.5 Upper rufous with chestnut, black lines; breast rufous; abdomen white; no hind toe; f., much larger. Weed-seeds, insects. 1 1 =11* Plain Wanderer=, Turkey Quail, _Pedionomus torquatus_, A. exc. W.A. Mig. r. _grass_, m., 4.8; f., 6.3 Brown; broad black, white spotted collar; light band on wing; breast chestnut; hind toe; m., smaller, paler, faint collar. Weed-seeds, insects. F. 15. _Pteroclididae_, Sand-Grouse, Rock-Pigeons (e), 17 sp.--7(2)O., 8(1)P., 12(7)E. ====