American Bob-White aad Quails 



By DR. R. W. SHUFELDT, C M. Z. S. ' 



PARTII.-THE BOB- WHITES 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR. 



N Part 1 of the present series I 

 have already presented some in- 

 teresting facts in regard to our 

 Bob-whites, while in the present 

 Part it is my intention to give a 

 more or less complete history of 

 these birds. 



We have, in the first place, two species of 

 Bob-whites in the United States avifauna, the 

 first being the Bob-white, and the second the 

 Masked Bob-white. Scientifically the Bob- 

 white is everywhere known as Colinus vir- 

 ginianus (of Virginia), its specific name hav- 

 ing been bestowed upon it by Linnaeus, who, 

 however, placed the group in the genus Tetrao, 

 under which name the old-time ornithologists 

 arrayed all birds that were at all grouse-like. 

 This Bob-white ranges all over Eastern 

 North America, from southern Maine, west- 

 ward through South Dakota, and southward 

 to include Florida. It is also found in the 

 Gulf States to include all suitable localities 

 through Texas, and, beyond our borders, in 

 eastern Mexico. In this very extensive range, 

 the birds, in divers areas, have corr>e to assume 

 fixed, and at the same time different plumage 

 characters. This has given rise to three very 

 distinct subspecies of Colinus virginianusthat 

 is, distinct when selected from their "range 

 centers ;" for the birds, in any particular case, 

 shade almost imperceptibly into the subspecies 

 of the next contiguous range. Then there are 

 four or five species found in Mexico and 

 Yucatan, all being quite distinct; but with 

 these we have nothing to do here. Further 

 on I will discuss our subspecific forms and 

 their ranges ; but let us first turn our attention 

 to the characters as a whole as found in the 

 genus. 



We will note in Colinus, then, that the feath- 

 ers of the crown are somewhat lengthened, 

 and, while erectile, do not form a true crest. 

 In the matter of general plumage, it is much, 

 variegated, being of a reddish chestnut brown 

 with black and white markings. There are 

 twelve tail-feathers, and. when stretched put, 

 the- feet reach beyond nheni. They lay. in 'a 

 nest on the ground, from twelve to eighteen 



white, pyriform eggs, and the downy little 

 chicks are very pretty and extremely active 

 when first hatched. 



Colinus virginianus virginianus is the type 

 subspecies of the genus, and its range is now 

 rapidly extending Westward, to such an extent, 

 indeed, that Coues, in the fifth edition of his 

 "Key," says that its range is "Eastern 

 United States, North to Maine, Ontario, and 

 Minnesota. West to high central plains in 

 South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Indian Ter- 

 ritory, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas, and all 

 the while steadily extending in that direction 

 with the settlements and railroads; it has 

 already got beyond the limits assigned in the 

 Key in 1884, and has been introduced and 

 become acclimated in various parts of Colo- 

 rado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, California. 

 Oregon and Washington. I shot it at Fort 

 Randall, S. D., in 1872-73." Both in its normal 

 habitat and wherever introduced it becomes 

 resident, breeding throughout the range. 



In the adult male the forehead, line over 

 each eye, and throat are pure white with a 

 bordering of black; crown, neck and breast, 

 reddish-brown ; under-parts light tan or tawny- 

 whittish, all the feathers being marked with 

 black in the form of double crescentic bars; 

 under tail ^ coverts, reddish; broad, reddish- 

 brown stripes on sides ; dorsum variegated 

 with black, stone gray, deep chestnut and 

 buffy, which last forms a bar on either wing. 



This coloration of the plumage is much 

 subdued in the female; the black markings are 

 less pronounced, and, what is to be noticed 

 almost at once by any observer is, 'that the 

 throat is of a buffy shade instead of white as 

 in the male. 



A male Bob-white has a length of about ten 

 inches to ten and a half, the "female being 

 Jibout^half an inch shorter. 



It is not an uncommon thing to find ab- 

 normally plumaged birds of this species among 

 the hundreds of scores shot in this country 

 every year. We must meet with albinoes-, 

 some melanotic ones, and others e^hibitint: 

 other phases of abnormal pluma'ge. Sports- 

 men should preserve such specimens, and, 



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