BIRDS OF MANY FAMILIES 219 



was very deep and securely fastened. When the 

 young were about half grown a disturbance was 

 heard one day while we were at dinner. Upon 

 investigation we found the nest upset and the dead 

 fledglings on the ground with the tops of their 

 skulls torn off. The Shrike was about, and we 

 felt very sure he was the culprit. They also eat 

 beetles, grasshoppers, mice, lizards, etc. The 

 Loggerhead is not a musician and its call notes 

 are harsh. They breed over the United States 

 from Minnesota east, south to Virginia, and in 

 the lower Mississippi valley. Their winter range 

 is somewhat farther south. 



Bob-white. A small cousin of the Ruffed 

 Grouse is the Partridge, or Virginia Quail, more 

 familiarly known as Bob-white. This bird has 

 furnished so much sport for the hunter that his 

 range is now much diminished and his numbers 

 are greatly reduced. Formerly they were found 

 as far north as Maine, but now have practically 

 disappeared from that State and they are much 

 less numerous in southern New England. 



Bob-white's dress is very tasteful. There are 

 no brilliant colors, to be sure, but the blending 

 of black, browns and grays is very pleasing and 

 aids him much in concealment, for he is dis- 

 tinctly a ground-dwelling bird. 



The upper parts are mottled browns and black, 

 the under parts buff, or whitish marked with 

 black and brown. The throat and forehead of 

 the male are white and there is a white line over 

 the eye; these markings on the female are buff. 



The simple nest of leaves and grass is placed 

 on the ground under a protecting bush, stump 



