CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 



THE BOBWHITE 



THESE birds are com- 

 monly called " quails." 

 They show some resem- 

 blance to the meadow- 

 larks in their habits 

 and in the color of their 

 upper parts, which are 

 rich reddish brown or 

 chestnut mottled and 

 streaked with blackish 

 and with paler colors. 

 They are shorter than 

 meadowlarks but are 

 heavier, being shaped 

 more like a hen. In 

 fact, they belong to the 



GallincB, the order to which chickens, grouse, partridges, 

 peacocks, and pheasants belong, while the meadowlark is 

 one of the Passer es, or perching birds. Bobwhites spend 

 all their time on or near the ground. They frequent 

 meadows and grainfields, where they are very useful in 

 destroying potato beetles, chinchbugs, inchworms, span- 

 worms, grasshoppers, and other destructive insects. In 

 cold weather they eat quantities of weed seeds. At no 

 time do they damage any crop. Their color harmonizes 

 so well with their surroundings that they are often diffi- 

 cult to see until they fly. Their clear whistle, bobwhite, 

 is easily imitated, and boys often amuse themselves by 

 whistling and waiting for a response. 



379 



Finley & Bohlman 



FIG. 234. California partridge, a close 

 relative of the bobwhite. 



