THE LAND BIRDS. 

 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. (ORDER GALLINiE.) 



Bob-whites, Grouse, etc. (Family Tetraonid^.) 



This is tlie family of the game birds — the aristocrats 

 of the bird world. Tliej are protectively colored birds, 

 their rich bro^vn, buff, and black plumage harmoniz- 

 ing with their surroundings. Kelying on their incon- 

 spicuousness, they avoid danger by hiding rather than by 

 flight, taking wing only as a final resort. Then, with a 

 startling wJiir-r-r^ they spring into the air, their short, 

 strong wings enabhng them to reach their greatest speed 

 within a short distance of the starting point. 



One of the best-known members of this distinguished 



family is our familiar Bob-white, the Quail of the E'orth 



Bob-white ^^^ Partridge of the South. The fact 



Coiiiius vinjinianus. is, he is neither a true Quail nor Par- 



PiateLXXVii. tridge, and those who claim that but 

 one of these names is correct may compromise on " Bob- 

 white." 



The Bob-white inhabits the eastern United States, and 

 wherever found is resident throughout the year. The 

 sexes are much alike in color, the only important differ- 

 ence being in the throat and the line over the eye, which 

 are white in the male and buff in the female. 



1^0 bird better illustrates the peculiar potency of 

 bird song, and the hopelessness of attempting to express its 

 charm. If I should describe Bob-white's call to a person 

 who had never heard it, as two ringing notes, do you 

 suppose he would have the faintest conception of what 



100 



