Bob-white PIGEONS, QUAILS, GROUSE. 



Mange : Eastern United States and southern Canada ; from southern 

 Maine to the South Atlantic and Gulf States ; west to Dakota, 

 eastern Kansas, and eastern Texas. 



The most abundant and attractive of our Game-birds, 

 whose note is so cheery and melodious as to be as welcome as 

 an elaborate song. In April and May the clear call — " Bob- 

 white ! Bob-white ! Poor-Bob- white ! " — comes from the 

 stubble fields and bushy roadsides, with the staccato ring, 

 at the same time that the Meadowlark sings in the pastures 

 and marshlands. At this time Bob-white may be seen sit- 

 ting upon an old fence rail, telling of his lonesome plight, 

 and calling with a total disregard of the presence of man. 

 Again, in August, you will see him with his spouse and 

 flock of young running through the underbrush, or in fields 

 where the grain has been reaped. When the first gun is 

 fired in November, they take warning and retire from the 

 neighbourhood of settlements to thickly bushed hillsides, 

 where they remain until absolutely flushed. 



In early winter, after light snow, you may often see 

 Quails scratching in the buckwheat fields ; for they are par- 

 ticularly fond of this grain, and you cannot do a kinder act 

 than by scattering a little every day on the snow where you 

 see their tracks, as they frequently suffer from hunger. 

 Like the Ruffed Grouse, they sometimes burrow in the snow 

 to hide from intense cold, and an ice crust forming above 

 them they are unable to get out, and die, often in great 

 numbers. They are keenly alive to the benefits of protec- 

 tion; for three successive years broods were raised in a 

 tangle underneath some old quince bushes at the foot of 

 the garden, and old and young continued to range in the 

 vicinity all summer, returning to hide in the shooting- 

 season under a hemlock hedge. The fourth year they were 

 disturbed by rock-blasting in the adjoining land, and have 

 not since nested in the garden. Two and often three fam- 

 ilies are raised in a season, and the breeding sometimes con- 

 tinues so late in the fall that winter overtakes a half-grown 

 covey. Twenty-five is not an unusual annual family for 

 these vigorous birds. 



228' 



