BOB-WHITE 



By EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH 



^tft il^attonal Si^Qodation ot audubon ^ocittits 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 47 



The cheery interrogative call of Bob-white was one of the first distinctive 

 sounds of the open field that, as a child, I knew and loved among the hills of 

 New England. It was as well known as the morning carol of the Robin in the 

 orchard, the drumming of the RutTed Grouse in the woods, or the reiterated 

 plaint of the Whip-poor-will on the moonUt door-stone. Bob-white was ever 

 an optimist, for even if, as the farmers stoutly maintained, his call sometimes 

 presaged a storm, the prophecy ''tnore wet" was delivered in such a cheerful 

 frame of mind, and in such a joyous, happy tone, as to make rain seem the 

 most desirable thing in life. 



Perhaps there is no bird to which the American people are more deeply 

 indebted for esthetic and material benefits. He is the most democratic and 

 ubiquitous of all our game birds. He is not a bird of desert, wilderness or 

 mountain peak, that one must go far to seek. He is a bird of the home, the 

 farm, garden and field; the friend and companion of mankind; a much-needed 

 helper on the farm; a destroyer of insect pests and weeds. He is called Quail 

 in the North and Partridge in the South, but he has named himself Bob-white. 

 When America was first settled, Bob-white was found from 

 Range Maine and southern Canada to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 



Being a sociable and domestic species, it followed settlement, 

 and now inhabits suitable localities in much of the United States, from the 

 Rocky mountains to the Atlantic. It has been introduced into the island of 

 Jamaica and into South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, California, Oregon and 

 Washington, and has flourished in most of these places. A smaller race inhabits 

 southern Florida, another lives in Texas; while closely allied, but distinct 

 species, occupy Arizona and Mexico. 



Bob-white is cheerful, active, industrious, brave (but quick 

 Character to learn caution where caution is necessary), and good -natured, 



although, in the rivalries of the mating season, the males become 

 quarrelsome. Both se.xes are devoted parents, and the male often takes his 

 place on the nest. In captivity, he has been known to hatch, brood and care 

 for the young. The birds of a covey are very affectionate toward one another. 

 They converse together in a variety of tender, low, twittering tones; sleep side 

 by side in a circular group on the ground, with heads out; and, if scattered, 

 soon begin to call and seek one another, and never rest until all the survi\'- 

 ing members of their little company are together again. 



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