LAND BIRDS. 221 



-• Distribution. — Eastern United States and southern Ontario, from 

 southern Maine to the South Atlantic and Gulf States; west to central 

 South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Breeds 

 throughout its range. 



In Michigan the Quail is abundant only in the southern half of the state, 

 although it occurs at favorable points over the entire Lower Peninsula. 

 The sole record for the Upper Peninsula is 

 that by Dr. S. Kneeland, who reported it as 

 not uncommon on Keweenaw Point, the 

 most northern point of the state, in 1856-57. 

 His record is as follows: "This is another 

 of the birds that follow man in his agricul- 

 tural movements. A few years since Quails 

 were unknown in the Upper Peninsula; now 

 they are not uncommon on the Point; as yet 

 they have not been seen on Portage Lake 

 As more attention is paid to agriculture for 

 the support of the mining population, the Fig. 60. Bob-white. Male. 



Quail will doubtless be common in the fields " From Hoffmann's Guide. (Hoiigh- 



(Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. VI, 1859, p. 237). '°"' '"^^'^ ^ ^°-^ 



There are records for practically every county in the Lower Peninsula, 

 but it has been winter killed almost everywhere except in the extreme 

 south, and even there the severe winters have more than once nearly 

 exterminated it. Kneeland's statement as to the increase of this species 

 with the extension of agriculture, although not verified on Keweenaw 

 Point, seems to have ample confirmation in the Lower Peninsula, in the 

 northern portion of which this bird apparently was unknown until after 

 1850. It was unknown at South Frankfort, Benzie county, until the 

 summer of 1891, when a pair bred on the farm of Mr. W. G. Voorheis, and 

 soon spread over the surrounding country. Mr. H. A. Danville, Jr., of 

 Copemish, Manistee county, writes (Dec. 22, 1906): "The Quail was never 

 seen in this county (Manistee) until about 1890. From that time until 

 1903 they became more numerous, but the severe winter of 1903-1904 

 almost destroyed them, and I have not seen one in the last three years, 

 but a neighbor saw a flock about a mile from my place this week." 



During the nesting season it is found in pairs, mostly in the open ground, 

 and the male is a conspicuous figure as he sits on the top of a fence-post 

 or stump and repeats his clear call of "bob- white" or "more wet" for half 

 an hour at a time. 



The nest is generally well concealed in brush or long grass, sometimes 

 even approached by a covered arbor or tunnel through the grass., but more 

 often exposed in at least one direction. It is deeply hollowed, well lined 

 with fine grass, and may contain anywhere from ten to twenty-four white, 

 unspotted eggs, which average 1.19 by .94 inches. 



The female sits very close, but both birds take part in incubation and 

 accompany the young after they are hatched. From this time on they 

 are always found in families or "coveys" and the male is less often heard 

 calling from the fence-posts, having plenty of other work to do. Not 

 infrequently a second brood is reared, but in most cases this seems to be 

 due to a failure of the first brood. However, young less than half grown 

 are frequently seen in September, and nests with fresh eggs have been 

 found occasionally in August and September. Ordinarily the eggs are 

 laid from May 20 to June 10. 



