Quail (scientific name: Coturnix coturnix) body length of 18 centimeters, small and rounded body, brown with obvious straw-yellow spear-like stripes and irregular markings, male and female both sexes have reddish-brown and black transverse stripes on the upper body. The male's chin is dark brown, with the mid-throat line curving upward to the ear feathers on both sides, close to the skin-yellow collar. The leathery yellow brow pattern is in marked contrast to the brown top of the head and across the eyes. Females have a similar pattern but the contrast is less pronounced.

Often found in pairs rather than flocks. They are often found in plains, wastelands, streamsides and hillsides with dense weeds or undergrowth, and sometimes near cultivated areas. It mainly eats weed seeds, beans, grains and berries, young leaves and shoots, etc. In summer, it eats a large number of insects and larvae, as well as small invertebrates.

Distributed in Europe, Africa, northern, central, western and southern Asia, etc. In China, it breeds from Shache, Yumin and other places in western Xinjiang to Lop Nor in the east, winters in southern and southeastern Tibet, and sometimes to Zhongdian in northwestern Yunnan.