BOB WHITE. 



OB WHITE is a plump, 

 fine-looking fellow,known 

 in the New England and 

 Middle States as the 

 Quail and in the Southern 

 States as the Partridge. It is said, 

 however, that these names belong to 

 other and quite different birds, and at 

 the suggestion of Prof. Baird, Bob 

 White, which is its call note, has 

 become its accepted and present name. 

 In the language of Mr. N. S. Goss 

 these birds appear to thrive best in 

 the presence of man, and were they 

 protected during our cold winters, 

 would soon become quite tame. They 

 often nest near our dwellings. "In the 

 spring of 1867," says Mr. Goss, "I was 

 shown on Owl Creek, Woodson 

 County, Kansas, a nest containing 

 nineteen eggs. It was placed in the 

 dooryard, and not over twenty-five 

 yards from the house ; several dogs 

 were running about the yard, and the 

 house cat was purring near the door- 

 way. Fearing the eggs would be 

 destroyed, I suggested the building of 

 a high, tight fence round the nest. 

 'Oh,' said the farmer, 'that is not 

 necessary ; our cats and dogs will not 

 harm them, for they know them well, 

 as they have for a long time run about 

 with the chickens, and feed with them 

 from food thrown from the doorstep.' 

 I am confident that if man were as 

 friendly to the birds as they are to 

 man, they would soon become 

 thoroughly domesticated. Trapped 

 and hunted as they are with dog and 

 gun it is not strange that as a whole 

 they remain timid and mistrustful, and 

 were they not naturally birds of 

 civilization would rapidly dissappear 

 with the settlement of the country. 

 As it is, they seem to realize that man 



is only at times their enemy, and that 

 his cultivated fields afford them a safe 

 refuge from many other enemies, and 

 insure a more certain and bountiful 

 supply of food than found elsewhere." 



Quails destroy injurious insects and 

 seeds of weeds, upon which they 

 largely feed. When startled they rise 

 with a loud whirring sound, their 

 flight being very swift, low, and direct, 

 a rather laborious effort. They move 

 about in small coveys or family 

 groups, pairing during the nesting 

 season, and share alike in the duties 

 of protecting and rearing the young. 



The nest is placed on the ground, 

 in a depression, usually in the grass 

 upon the prairies, sometimes in a 

 thicket,under a low bush. It is usually 

 arched over with grass, with entrance 

 on the side. 



From fifteen to twenty pure white 

 eggs are usually laid. 



S. P. Cheney pleasantly says : 

 " Familiar as, I have been with almost 

 all parts of Vermont for more than 

 thirty years, I have seen only one 

 Quail in the state, and he was evidently 

 a ' tramp.' I heard him just at night, 

 the first day of July, 1884. Did not 

 get sight of him till the next morning, 

 when he came out into the sun, stood 

 on the top rail of a fence, warmed 

 himself, and whistled his spirited, 

 forceful tune, his solid little body 

 swelling and throbbing at every note, 

 especially when he rose to the tonic, 

 I was prepared for him, and made an 

 exact copy of what he gave : Bob^ Bob, 

 White! Bob White! Bob, Bob, White! 

 After the performance he stood, evi- 

 dently listening for a reply ; none 

 came, and without another note he 

 disappeared, to be seen no more." 



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