The common quail (Coturnix coturnix), or European quail, is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the western Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India. With its characteristic call of three repeated chirps (repeated three times in quick succession), this species of quail is more often heard than seen. It is widespread in Europe and North Africa, and is categorised by the IUCN as "least concern". It should not be confused with the Coturnix quail, Coturnix japonica, native to Asia, which, although visually similar, has a call that is very distinct from that of the common quail. Like the Japanese quail, common quails are sometimes kept as poultry. Taxonomy The common quail was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tetrao coturnix. The specific epithet coturnix is the Latin word for the common quail. This species is now placed in the genus Coturnix that was introduced in 1764 by the French naturalist François Alexandre Pierre de Garsault. The common quail was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). The ranges of the two species meet in Mongolia and near Lake Baikal without apparent interbreeding and in captivity the offspring of crosses show reduced fertility. The Japanese quail is therefore now treated as a separate species. Five subspecies are recognised: C. c. coturnix (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeding in Europe and northwest Africa to Mongolia and north India, wintering in Africa and central, south India C. c. conturbans Hartert, 1917 – Azores C. c. inopinata Hartert, 1917 – Cape Verde Islands C. c. africana Temminck & Schlegel, 1848 – sub-Saharan Africa and the three islands C. c. erlangeri Zedlitz, 1912 – east and northeast Africa Description The common quail is a small compact gallinaceous bird in length with a wingspan of . The weight is . It is greatest before migration at the end of the breeding season. The female is generally slightly heavier than the male. It is streaked brown with a white eyestripe, and, in the male, a white chin. As befits its migratory nature, it has long wings, unlike the typically short-winged gamebirds. According to Online Etymology Dictionary, "small migratory game bird of the Old World, late 14c. (early 14c. as a surname, Quayle), from Old French quaille (Modern French