Heritability values were estimated for the weights of various internal organs and correlations among the organ weights were calculated using 279 male and 305 female birds of Japanese quail. The organs measured were heart, lungs, liver, gizzard, intestines, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, gonads, oviduct, muscles, and bones; total body weight was also recorded. The heritabilities for these internal organs ranged from 78 percent for bones to 17 percent for intestines, and showed no marked differences between male and female groups. In total body and muscle weight, however, males had higher heritabilities than females; male birds had larger genetic variances of these traits than females. Total body weight and muscle weight were stronly correlated both phenotypically and genetically. Correlations among other organs were generally low.

The 307 birds of Japanese quails Coturnix coturnix japonica were captured for this study, in grasslands and pastures located 800 to 850 meters above sea level at the foot of Mount Fuji, from the middle of October through the end of November for five years under the permission of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Capturing wild quails were performed by the both methods of ring-shaped traps and mist-nets. Male birds of the domestic strain were used for a decoy. 1) Ratios of captured male and female quails are found different between two kind of the capturing methods, i.e., by the mist-nets used was nearly one to one ratio, while by the ring-shaped traps more male birds are significantly captured (64.2%) than female birds. The reason of the above different ratios of sexes in captured quails are considered by the different walk behaviour between sexes. 2) Body weight at captured was significantly different between years, but no difference is found in the shank length. These phenomena might have resulted from the different food conditions of those regions during fall migratory season among the capturing years, although details are not clear. 3) Mean values, standard errors and ranges of body weight, and lengths of external shank, internal shank, wing, tail and bill at captured are mentioned.

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