484 . THE VIRGINIAN QUAIL. 



streak of pale brown over the eyes, and another on the top of the head passing towards the 

 nape of the neck. The whole upper surface is brown streaked with yellow-brown, and the 

 feathers with lighter shafts. The chin and throat are white, and around the throat run two 

 semicircular bands of dark brown, their points reaching as high as the ear-coverts and having 

 a black patch in front. The breast is rather pale but warm brown, variegated by the polished 

 straw-color of the shafts, and the remainder of the under surface is ochry-white deepening 

 into chestnut on the flanks. The female may be known by the absence of the two dark semi- 

 circles on the throat, which even in the male are not acquired until the second year, and 

 the little dark spots on the feathers of the breast. The total length of the Quail is about seven 

 inches. 



AN allied species is found in many parts of North America, and is known by the name of 

 the VIRGINIAN QUAIL. In popular parlance, however, it is generally called the Partridge, 

 greatly to the confusion of young ornithologists. On account of its peculiar cry, it is also 

 called " Bob- White," its clear call-note bearing considerable resemblance to those words. 



The Virginian Quail generally keeps itself to the open ground, preferring those spots 

 where grain is plentiful. Sometimes, however, it shelters itself among the trees or brush- 

 wood, but even then seems to pass but little of its time in such retreats. During the winter 

 it gains courage by hunger, approaching human habitations in search of food, and boldly 

 fighting with the poultry for the grain thrown to them. Oftentimes the eggs are placed under 

 the domestic hen, and in that case the young birds are very tame, provided that the foster- 

 mother is of a quiet stay-at-home temper, and not given to roam. Wilson informs us that 

 two young Quails, which had been hatched by a hen, attached themselves to the cows, accom- 

 panying them regularly to the field ; standing by them when they were milked, retiring with 

 them in the evening, and roosting in the stable. These interesting little birds unfortunately 

 disappeared in the spring. 



As the flesh of the Quail is particularly excellent, it is greatly persecuted in the winter 

 time, when it is easily attracted by baits. Ten or fifteen at a time are often caught in a con- 

 trivance that much resembles the common sieve-trap, saving that a kind of coop supplies the 

 place of the sieve. 



In the wild state the Quail makes its rude nest under the shelter of corn or grass-tufts, 

 and then lays from fifteen to twenty -four pure white eggs. As is the case with the European 

 Quail, the young are able to run about as soon as they are fairly free of the shell, and are 

 guided by their mother to the best feeding-places. The old bird is peculiarly watchful of her 

 charge, and if she should be suddenly surprised, she endeavors to draw off the attention of 

 the intruder by feigning lameness, flapping along the ground as if with a broken wing, in 

 order to gain time for the helpless young to conceal themselves. At night the Quails prefer to 

 roost on some elevated spot in the middle of a field, and it appears that they sit in a circle 

 with their heads radiating outwards and their tails almost touching each other. 



The top of the head and the upper part of the breast are warm reddish-brown, the chin is 

 pure white, and a streak of white runs from behind the eye along the neck. The sides of the 

 neck are also reddish-brown spotted with black and white. The upper surface of the body is 

 reddish-brown sprinkled with ashy-gray and black. The wings are gray-brown, and the 

 tertials edged with yellowish-white. The abdomen and lower parts of the breast are yellowish- 

 white, marked with spear-head dashes of black. The female is known by the yellowish brown 

 of the chin and sides of the head. It is a larger bird than the European Quail, being about 

 nine inches long. 



THE genus ORTYX embraces numerous species more or less resembling the well-known 

 Bob-White of North America. Most of them are found in Mexico, Central America, and the 

 West Indies. North America and the West India islands contain but one species, which is 

 extremely variable in plumage. 



The Virginian Quail, so called, but more properly Bob- White, is, perhaps, one of the 

 most familiar of American birds. Its well-known call is adopted by American naturalists as 



