158 TETRAONIDjE I GROUSE. 



the bird may be said to inhabit at present only the three 

 southern New England States. That it overlaps at 

 times, or in particular localities, into the other three, is 

 doubtless a fact. It is a true component of the Alle- 

 ghanian and other more southern Faunae, its range 

 being complementary to that of the Spruce Grouse, 

 Canace canadensis : and the scattering coveys in south- 

 ern Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are rather 

 evidence of this fact than of the assumption that the 

 bird should be considered native to New England at 

 large. The range appears, moreover, to have been arti- 



FIG. 34. BILL AND FOOT OF QUAIL. 



ficially restricted of late years as a consequence of the 

 persecution to which the birds are always subjected. In 

 fine, Massachusetts is practically the limit of the Bob- 

 white, and it is not found to be numerously or evenly 

 distributed throughout that State. 



A contributor to Minot's "Birds of New England" 

 has prepared the following agreeable sketch : " The 

 Quail are abundant in the three Southern States of New 

 England, except in the colder and more hilly portions. 

 They are not found much to the east or north of Bos- 

 ton, in the neighborhood of which, however, they are 

 resident throughout the year. Our observations on 



