BOB-W HITE. 
ORDER GALLINZ. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 
Family Tetraonide. 
This family includes the Quail, Partridge, and Prairie 
Hen, etc., all game birds which rely upon their protective 
coloring for concealment from enemies. As a conse- 
quence, they do not fly unless compelled to do so, and 
then the noise or whirr of their concave, stiff-feathered 
wings commonly distracts and startles the pursuer, and 
gives the birds a better chance to escape. Asa rule, the 
family is not gifted with musical calls, but in the broadest 
sense of the word the crow of the barnyard Chanticleer 
and the whistle of the Bob-white are among some of the 
most suggestive and beautiful music of Nature. ~ 
Bob-white Bob-white is one of Nature’s best evi- 
Guail dences of her principle of protective color- 
Colinus 
virginianus ng; one might easily step upon the tail of 
L. 10.00 inches the bird, mistaking it for some of the old, 
Allthe year last winter’s leaves—if the tail remained 
in place long enough! Itis almost impossible to enter 
the thicket or wood frequented by a covey of Quail 
without experiencing the sensation of being thoroughly 
startled yourself and of putting to confusion a whole 
community of peaceful dwellers, for suddenly, with- 
out the slightest warning, six or eight panic-stricken 
creatures appear almost directly under foot, and in hot 
haste fly for their lives. That would scarcely happen if 
it were not for the protective coloring ; the bird knows it 
can rely on this and possibly escape detection, therefore 
flight is a last resort—and one treads close to the tail! 
The colors of the bird are an ingenious mixture of dead- 
leaf tints—brown, russet, gray, and white. The throat, 
region in front of and over the eye, white ; upper parts 
tawny brown, russet, dark gray, and buff; neck quite 
dark bordering on the white throat-patch, then fading 
gradually into a mottled region of ruddy brown a trifle 
pinkish, gray, and black ; under parts gray-white barred 
with black; sides chestnut broken by gray-white spots 
and margins of black ; tail rather insignificant. and an 
oll 
