QUAIL  

The name quail designates birds belonging to two divisions of the pheasant family, Phasianidae: the New World quail, subfamily Odontophorinae; and the Old World quail, subfamily Phasianinae, which also includes partridges.

Most New World quail are brightly marked and crested, and the two sexes are distinct in color. They lack spurs on their tarsi and have stronger bills than Old World quail. About 30 species are distributed from southern Canada to northern Argentina, ranging from deserts (for example, the scaled quail, Callipepla squamata) to cloud forests (the bearded tree quail, Dendrortyx barbatus). None is migratory, and most are considered game birds.

The bobwhite, Colinus virginianus, a North American game bird, measures up to 28 cm (11 in) in length; the male has a white throat and bands across each side of the head. It is considered beneficial to farmers because its diet includes a wide variety of agricultural pests.

The Old World common quail, Coturnix coturnix, domesticated in Japan and other countries, often migrates in dense flocks. The sparrow-sized Chinese painted quail, Excalfactoria chinensis, is the smallest known gallinaceous bird--that is, a bird related to the domestic fowl.