FISHERIES. GAME AND FORESTS. 317 



Tl)e ^ob-WI)ite or Qaail. CoHnus virginianus (Linn.) 



The quail belongs to tiie same order and family as the ruffed j^rouse, but to the 

 subfamily Pcrdicince — the Partridges. 



Characters of subfamily : Tarsi and toes entirely naked ; nasal foss;e unfeathered, 

 protected by a naked scale. Sides of toes without pectinations at any season. Sides 

 of neck without any inflatable air-sac, and no bare space over the eyes. 



Genus Colinus Lesson. Ortyx Stephens; Shaw's Gen. ZooL, XI, 1819. Preoc- 

 cupied. Type, Tetrao virgiiiianiislAnn. Colinus Less.; Man. II, 1828, 190. Same type. 



General characters : Bill stout ; head without crest ; tail short, scarcely more than 

 half the wing, composed of moderately soft feathers. Wings normal ; legs distinct, 

 well developed, the toes reaching considerably beyond the tip of the tail ; the lateral 

 toes short, equal, their claws falling decidedly short of the base of the middle claw. 



Colimis virginianus (Linnseus). Bob-White. 



Popular synonyms : "Quail" (in New England and most portions of the Mississippi 

 Valley); "partridge" (in Southern States and parts of the interior); American quail; 

 Virginia quail; partridge or colin. 



Habitat — Eastern United States, north to Massachusetts and Ontario, south to 

 Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and eastern Te.xas (?), west to the edge of the Great 

 Plains. Replaced in Florida by the smaller and much darker Colinus virginianus 

 floridanus Coues, and in central Texas, north to western Indian Territory, by a much 

 lighter colored Colinus virginianus texanus (Lawr.). 



Specific characters: 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. Adult female : .Similar to male, but superciliary 

 stripe and throat ochraceous, and pileum, together with stripe on side of the head, 

 mostly rusty. Young: Pileum and auriculars dull 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. Doivny 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 inches. 



When the warm sunshine of early spring is awakening life to renewed activities 

 and " A livelier iris glows upon the burnished dove," then it is that Bob White's fancy 

 "lightly turns to thoughts of love," and with a pardonable pride characteristic of the 



