The Snow Mountain quail (Synoicus monorthonyx), is a large, approximately 28 cm (11 in) long, dark brown quail of alpine grasslands. It was formerly considered the only member of the genus Anurophasis, but phylogenetic analysis places it as the sister species to the brown quail (S. ypsilophorus) in the genus Synoicus. It has heavily marked brown plumage, a pale yellow bill, yellow legs and a brown iris. The underparts of the female are whitish and more distinctly barred black than in the male. The Snow Mountain quail is confined to Western New Guinea's highest elevations, the Snow and Star Mountains. This little known bird is protected only by the remoteness of its habitat, a mostly inaccessible area at altitudes of . The female usually lays up to three pale brown, dark-spotted eggs in a hollow nest under the edge of a grass tussock. The diet consists mainly of seeds, flowers, leaves, and other vegetable matter. Due to its limited range, parts of which are getting increasingly accessible, the Snow Mountain quail is evaluated as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. References External links BirdLife Species Factsheet Red Data Book Quails Synoicus Birds of Western New Guinea Endemic fauna of New Guinea Endemic fauna of Indonesia Birds described in 1910 Taxa named by Eduard Daniël van Oort Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN