Buttonquails | Turnicidae

Vechtkwartels | Torillos

Small, squat ground birds that look like quails but are not: they belong to the wader order, and the resemblance comes from doing the same work in the same grass. The hind toe is missing, leaving three toes pointing forward — hence the scientific name. The roles are reversed. The female is larger and more strongly marked, holds a territory and advertises with a deep, far-carrying boom produced with an inflated crop; she lays her eggs and moves on to the next mate. The male incubates alone, in a scrape under a tussock, and raises the young. They leave the nest at once and can flutter after a fortnight — sooner than almost any other bird. They fly rarely and briefly, low over the grass, and would rather be walked over than flushed.