| 1. | any of several birds of the family Turnicidae, of warmer parts of the Old World, resembling but not related to the true quail. Also called bustard quail, hemipode. |
| 2. | the blue-breasted quail, Coturnix chinensis. |
[bloo-bres-tid] 
| a small, brightly colored quail, Coturnix chinensis, of southern Asia and Australia, widely kept as a cage bird. |
| but·ton-quail (bŭt'n-kwāl') n. Any of various small, quail-like Old World birds of the family Turnicidae that lack a hind toe and are related to the crane and the bustard. |