THE LAND BIRDS. 

 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. (ORDER GALLING.) 



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



This is the family of the game birds — the aristocrats 

 of the bird world. They are protectively colored birds, 

 their rich brown, buff, and black plumage harmoniz- 

 ing with their surroundings. Relying 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-i\ they spring into the air, their short, 

 strong wings enabling them to reach their greatest speed 

 within a short distance of the starting paint. 



One of the best-known members of this distinguished 



family is our familiar Bob-white, the Quail of the North 



and Partridge of the South. The fact 



r, T '. . ' is, he is neither a true Quail nor Par- 



Cohnus virgiiiiarius. ' ^ 



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, f nd 

 wherever ["^ound 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 femnle. 



No 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 



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