220 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



LIFE HISTORIES OF MICHIGAN BIRDS.— PART 2. LAND BIRDS. 



Order X. GALLING. Fowl-like Birds. 



KEY TO FAMILIES. 



A. Tarsus (shank) unfeathered. B, BB. 



B. Head naked or merely bristly; forehead with a median fleshy horn 



or "finger." Family 33. Meleagridte. Turkeys. 

 BB. Head mostly feathered, without fleshy horn or finger. C, CC. 



C. Large birds; wing 8 inches or more; tarsus (shank) of male 

 always with a spur. — Family Phasianidse. Old World 

 Pheasants. 

 CC. Small birds; wing less than 6 inches; tarsus of male without 

 spur. Family 31. Odontophoridae. Quail or Bob white. 

 AA. Tarsus feathered at least half way from "knee" to foot (Fig. 61). 

 Family 32. Tetraonidse. Grouse, Ptarmigan, etc. 



Fig. CI. Ruffed Grouse. 



Family 31. ODONTOPHORIDAE. Quail or Bob white. 



Only a single species, the common Quail or Bob-white, is native to Mich- 

 igan. Several other quails, from the Pacific states and the southwest, are 

 found occasionally in captivity in a half-domesticated state. Those most 

 often seen thus are the California Quail and Gambel's Quail, conspicuous 

 for the beautiful crest of recurved feathers. 



120. Quail. Colinus virginianus virginianus {Linn.). (289) 



Synonyms: Bob-white, Virginia Partridge. — Tetrao virginianus, Linn., 1758. — Perdix 

 virginiana, Lath., Wils., Aud., and others. — Ortyx virginiana, Jard., and many recent 

 authors. 



Figure 60. 



So well known as hardly to need description, but the small size, white 

 throat, and mottled brown, black and white plumage will readily separate 

 it from the only birds with which it could be confounded. 



