BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The Florida Bob-white {Coliiius v'lrginianns 

 floridaiius), a smaller and darker form of the 

 better known common Bob-white, is found in 

 the peninsula of Florida except in the extreme 

 northern part. 



The Texas, or Texan, Bob-white {CoUniis 

 vircjUuanus texanus) is a paler variety and oc- 

 curs from the southeastern corner of New- 

 Mexico to southern Texas and south into north- 

 ern Mexico. 



Photographs by H. K. Job 



Nest and brood 



BOB-WHITES 



Ci-mrtfsy L't Uutmg Publishing Co. 

 Seven weeks old 



Other Names. — Arizona Bob-white 

 Ridgway's Colin ; Ridgway's Quail. 



General Description. — Length. lo inches. Pkunage 

 above, reddish-brown, brown, black, and gray, mixed; 

 below, orange-chestnut. 



Color. — Adult Male: Forehead, sides of head and 

 neck, black with or without a white line over eye ; 

 crozvn, hind head, and nape, mixed black, zfhitc, and 

 pale broii'n ; hindneck and shoulders, grayish-reddish- 

 brown ; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, minutely 

 spotted with blackish, brown, and grayish-white; wing- 

 coverts, tawny, each feather barred with blackish, edged 

 and tipped with dull white; primaries, dusky-brown, 

 edged with white, inner web scalloped with the same 

 color; secondaries, dusky barred and speckled with pale 

 raw umber and cream ; the inner secondaries and 

 shoulder-feathers, broadly edged with yellowish white; 

 tail, above bluish-ash finely speckled and waved with 



MASKED BOB-WHITE 

 Colinus ridgwayi Brczvstcr 



A. O. U. X umber 291 



Hooded Quail ; whitish, below gray lightly and irregularly barred and 

 waved with grayish-white ; under parts, orange chest- 

 imt usually immaculate except on flanks where feathers 

 are usually tipped with an oval white spot behind a 

 subterminal black bar ; lower tail-coverts with a wedge- 

 shaped black spot bordered with whitish; bill, black; 

 feet, horn color; iris, brown. Adult Female; Fore- 

 head, lores, a broad stripe over and behind eye. chin, 

 and throat, pale warm buffy ; crown, sides of head 

 (narrowly), neck, and upper parts in general, variegated 

 with gray, brown, and tawny; beneath, dull pinkish buff 

 lightly crossed with brown crescentic marks, these- 

 absent on flanks which are more brownish-bufif. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest ; A shallow excavation on 

 the ground under the shelter of grass or bushes. 

 Kc.cs : .Xs far as known, 6, white, unmarked. 



Distribution. — Middle part of southern border of 

 Arizona south to central-northern Sonora. 



The plumage of the Masked Bob-white is 

 strikingly different from that of his eastern 

 cousin. He is a handsome little chap in his 

 bright chestnut-colored waistcoat, which looks 

 red in the sunlight, and like most of his tribe 

 he seems to be very well aware of the fact. 

 Wherefore he announces himself with the same 

 cheerful and confident tones which have given 

 him and his relatives their common name. One 

 observer notes that toward evening the short in- 

 troductory note, which is usually subdued, is 

 omitted altogether. When the covey is scattered, 

 especially in the evening, they are assembled by 

 means of a peculiarly soft and rather plaintive 

 two-note call, resembling the syllables hoo-ive. 



From much of their normal range in the South- 

 west these attractive and interesting little birds 

 have been driven by advancing agriculture and 

 the accompanying man with a gun, intent upon 

 destroying every living thing for food or for 

 " sport." 



In the vicinity of Tucson, Arizona, not so 

 very many years ago, the birds were so plenti- 

 ful, tame, and persistent in their habit of keep- 

 ing closely bunched in coveys of fifteen or twenty, 

 that it was no uncommon thing to kill five or six 

 at a single shot — on the ground, of course. And 

 yet many people wonder about the disappearance 

 of wild life ! 



George GLAonEN. 



