QUAILS. 211 



Then, if the door is quietly pulled open ])y the long 

 string, they will generally step out, one at a time, pick 

 up the seed, flap their wings, bask in the sun, caress 

 each other, and finally run off into the shrubbery. 

 The box should not be approached until the next day, 

 and care ought to be taken that grain enough to support 

 the birds for a day or two is scattered in its vicinity. 



The quail of the Atlantic States {Ortyx virgi7iia?ius), 

 which is also known as the Bob White, and in the 

 Southern States as the partridge, is abundant as far 

 west as the Rocky Mountains, and even beyond that 

 chain now, as it has been introduced into Utah, 

 Oregon, and other places. This species has length- 

 ened feathers on the crown which can be erected into 

 a crest; a line over the eye; the throat is whitish, 

 bordered with black; the vertex, neck, and breast are 

 brownish-red, the remaining under parts being white 

 and marked with black crescentic bars; and the 

 sides are streaked with brownish-red, the upper parts 

 being varied with tawny, black, gray, and chestnut. 

 The color of the female is paler than that of the male, 

 and the forehead, throat, and the line over the eye are 

 buff instead of white. There are two varieties of this 

 species in the South, one being confined to Florida, and 

 the other to Texas. The difference between them and the 

 northern bird is not very great, and consists principally 

 m the smaller size and darker plumage of the variety 

 floridanus, and the paler and grayer hue of the variety 

 texanus, which is the common bird of Texas. 



The nest of the quail is a common affair, being merely 

 a slight excavation or a natural depression in the 

 ground which is lined with dry grass and a few feathers. 

 The hen lays from fifteen to twenty-four white eggs, 

 and sits on them three weeks, generally hatching all of 

 them. When the young appear they are able to leave the 

 nest, and though they are veritable mites of down, they 



