

FIG. 4. TEXAS BOB-WHITE. MALE. TWO-THIRDS NATURAL SIZE. 



while they have no scientific status whatever, 

 they are, nevertheless, of value and most 

 assuredly interesting. 



In the lower two-thirds of the peninsula of 

 Florida we meet with the first subspecies of 

 Bob-white, which is the Florida Bob-white 

 (C. v. fioridanus). This variety is not found 

 anywhere else in this country, though it ap- 

 proaches the Cuban quail in appearance 

 (C. cubanensis). It is a smaller and much 

 darker bird than the one just described, the 

 male being about the size of the female of 

 C. v. virgtnianus; moreover, in it the bill is 

 jet black and heavier, and the black markings 

 more conspicuous by being broader. It* habits 

 are about the same. 



When on the ground our Bob -whites have 

 a very different appearance from some of the 

 western quails, for example such as any of the 

 scaled quails. This will at once be appre- 

 ciated by comparing the birds figured in figs. 

 4 and S. 



As I have before remarked, these scaled 

 partridges or quails always ' remind me ;df 

 some small form of grouse,* and to this i!x- 



specimen here shown in fig. 5 forms no excep- 

 tion. 



Our last subspecies of Bob-white is the 

 Texas subspecies (C. v. tcxanus) of which it 

 is said that it ranges through southeastern 

 New Mexico to southern Texas, and from 

 these regions southward through certain parts 

 of old Mexico. This Texas Bob-white is a 

 species about the size of the Florida subspecies 

 (Fig. 4), and, instead of being a darker form 

 than the Common Bob-white, it is a much 

 paler one. Indeed, the prevailing shade is 

 gray rather than a brown, and there is a con- 

 siderable shading of tan or tawny in the 

 plumage of its upper parts. This subspecies 

 f have had in confinement for several days 

 at a time, during which period I made a num- 

 ber of negatives of it. The one shown in 

 Fig. 4, selected from the lot, makes the bird 

 appear to be much darker than it really is. 

 so much so that it would stand pretty well 

 for a specimen of the Florida Bob-white. This 

 bird 1 , however, was taken in central Texas 

 ulung with many others, and shipped to Mr. 

 Schmid by one of his regular collectors. 

 It has the same habits as our quail of the 



357 



