122 OUR WINTER BIRDS 



tainly startling enough to walk into a covey during 

 the day. 



Bob-white's plumage represents the best type of 

 what is termed protective coloration. That is, an 

 arrangement of colors and markings which make 

 the bird, when it is motionless, seem so like its sur- 

 roundings that it is very difficult, if not almost im- 

 possible, to see it. Birds so colored rely upon their 

 invisibility, rather than flight, to escape from their 

 enemies. 



We cannot, of course, believe that Bob-white does 

 not hear us as we come crashing through the bushes. 

 At the first sound he is doubtless on the alert, but 

 trusting to his color he squats in his tracks and waits 

 for us to pass. It is only when we almost step on 

 him that he seems to lose faith in his protective 

 suit and takes to his wings. Short, rounded wings 

 they are, not designed to carry him far, but wings 

 that can be moved quickly in a flying start. For 

 after waiting until the last moment, it is necessary 

 that Bob-white put on "full speed ahead" in the 

 shortest possible time, and with a whirring roar he 

 springs from the earth and shoots away like a bullet. 

 Then, indeed, the family is so widely scattered that 

 one wonders how its members ever find one another 

 again. They do not, as a rule, perch in trees, so 

 that sight is of no assistance, while the air route 



