16 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Ortyx virginianus JARD. AUD. Synop. 1839, 199; B. Am. v, 1842. 59, pi. 289. BAIRD. B. N . 



Am. 1858,640; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 471. COUES, Key, 1872, 236; Check List, 1874, 



No. 389; 2d ed. 1882, No. 571 ; B. N. W. 1874, 431. B. B. & K. Hist. N. Am. B. iii, 1874, 468, 



pi. 63, figs. 1, 2. EIDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 480. 

 Colinus virginianus STEJN. Auk, Jan. 1885, 45. A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 289, RIDGW. 



Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 188. 



HAS. Eastern United States, north to Massachusetts and Ontario, south to Georgia, Ala- 

 bama, Louisiana, and eastern Texas (?), west to the edge of the Great Plains. Replaced in 

 Florida by the smaller and much darker C. virginianus floridanus Coues, and in central 

 Texas, north to western Indian Territory by the much lighter colored C. virginianus tex- 

 anus (Lawr.). 



SP. CHAR. Adult male: Pileum and stripe on side of head mixed black and rusty, the 

 former prevailing; broad and distinct superciliary stripe, chin and throat white. Upper 

 parts mottled rusty and grayish, the scapulars and tertials spotted with black, the latter 

 with inner webs broadly edged with ochraceous. Jugulum mixed rusty, black, and white; 

 abdomen white, with irregular V-shaped bars of black; sides rusty, streaked with black 

 and white. A dnlt female: Similar to the male, but superciliary stripe and throat ochraceous 

 and pileum, together with stripe on side of head, mostly rusty. Young: Pileum and auricu- 

 lars dull dark grayish; superciliary stripe and throat dull dirty whitish; jugulum and 

 breast dull grayish brown, with whitish shaft- streaks, abdomen plain dull white. Back rusty 

 brownish, with whitish shaft-streaks and black spots. Downy young: Head dingy buff, 

 with an elongated dusky auricular spot; and on the crown an oblong patch of chestnut- 

 rufous. 



Total length (fresh specimens) 9.50-10.50; extent, 14.00-15.50. 



The common Quail or Partridge, as this fine bird is variously 

 known in our State, is a bird of very general distribution, and its 

 habits are so familiar that any detailed description is here 

 unnecessary. The farmer has no better friend than this species, 

 which devours "bugs" of all sorts in large quantities, and is par- 

 ticularly fond of the Colorado potato beetle. During severe win- 

 ters farmers would. do well, only their own interests being consid- 

 ered, to feed the quail on their farms to prevent their dying of 

 starvation. 



This species can be easily tamed, and breeds very readily in 

 confinement. (See Forest and Stream, Vol. XIX., Nos. 9 and 10, 

 September 28 and October 5, 1882, pp. 164, 165, 185, and 186.) 



In former publications we have given C. virginicmus florichmus 

 as an inhabitant of southern Illinois, and Mr. Nelson, coincided 

 in this opinion. Under this name, Mr. Nelson (in Bull. Essex 

 Imt. IX., 1877, p. 43), says:] 



"The prevailing form in the bottoms, where the typical /vV- 

 (jniidnux is comparatively rare. The specimens obtained are 

 typical of the variety, some having even larger bills thau any 

 Florida examples seen, while the other proportions are equally 

 small, and the colors fully as dark. A remarkable characteristic 



