BOB. WHITE. 



ORDER GALLING. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 

 Family Tetraonidce. 



This family includes the Quail, Partridge, and Prairie 

 Hen, etc. , all game birds which rely upon their protective 

 coloring for concealment from enemies. As a conse- 

 quence, they do not fly unless compelled to do so, and 

 then the noise or whirr of their concave, stiff-feathered 

 wings commonly distracts and startles the pursuer, and 

 gives the birds a better chance to escape. As a rule, the 

 family is not gifted with musical calls, but in the broadest 

 sense of the word the crow of the barnyard Chanticleer 

 and the whistle of the Bob- white are among some of the 

 most suggestive and beautiful music of Nature. 



Bob-white Bob-white is one of Nature's best evi- 



Q ual1 dences of her principle of protective color- 



Colinus 



virginianus in ; one mi S ht easily step upon the tail of 

 L. 10.00 inches the bird, mistaking it for some of the old, 

 All the year last winter's leaves if the tail remained 

 in place long enough ! It is almost impossible to enter 

 the thicket or wood frequented by a covey of Quail 

 without experiencing the sensation of being thoroughly 

 startled yourself and of putting to confusion a whole 

 community of peaceful dwellers, for suddenly, with- 

 out the slightest warning, six or eight panic-stricken 

 creatures appear almost directly under foot, and in hot 

 haste fly for their lives. That would scarcely happen if 

 it were not for the protective coloring ; the bird knows it 

 can rely on this and possibly escape detection, therefore 

 flight is a last resort and one treads close to the tail ! 

 The colors of the bird are an ingenious mixture of dtad- 

 leaf tints brown, russet, gray, and white. The throat, 

 region in front of and over the eye, white ; upper parts 

 tawny brown, russet, dark gray, and buff ; neck quite 

 dark bordering on the white throat-patch, then fading 

 gradually into a mottled region of ruddy brown a trifle 

 pinkish, gray, and black ; under parts gray- white barred 

 with black ; sides chestnut broken by gray- white spots 

 and margins of black ; tail rather insignificant, and an 



