coturnix

American  

[kuh-tur-niks] / kəˈtɜr nɪks /

noun

1. any of several small true quails of the genus Coturnix, especially C. coturnix common quail, or European quail, a widespread game bird of Europe and North Africa, and C. japonica Japanese quail, breeding mostly in East and Central Asia and widely used as a laboratory animal.

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Etymology

Origin of coturnix

First recorded in 1755–60; from New Latin, Latin cōturnīx, coturnīx “quail”

Example Sentences

There was a woodcock with a head injury, and a Coturnix quail that might have escaped while being delivered to a Japanese restaurant to become a dinner special.

From New York Times • Dec. 10, 2013

The gallinaceous birds are represented by a quail, Coturnix novae zealandiae, now exterminated.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

These grassy areas were favorite haunts of the Painted Quail, Coturnix chinensis.

From Birds from North Borneo University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Volume 17, No. 8, pp. 377-433, October 27, 1966 by Thompson, Max C.