The Quail 



21 



white of the throat. Breast and lower parts, buffy 

 white, crossed with narrow wavy lines of black. 

 Flank feathers, chestnut barred with black and 

 edged with white ; tail, bluish gray ; under tail- 

 coverts, chestnut marked with black. Bill, black ; 

 legs and feet, yellowish brown. Roughly speak- 

 ing, the female is buff where the male is white ; 

 otherwise the markings are so similar that an un- 

 scientific eye would detect no difference. In 

 sportsmen's parlance, " white throat cock ; 

 buff throat hen." Cocks having the throat 

 more or less buff are occasionally seen. In im- 

 mature specimens the throat marks usually are a 

 dirty gray. A full-grown quail is about nine and 

 and one-half inches long. In the writer's opinion 

 the largest and heaviest bird he has handled was 

 a female. The size and markings vary considera- 

 bly in different parts of the country. The finest 

 birds seen by the writer were in western Ontario 

 and Pennsylvania. The Florida birds are smaller 

 and darker in color. Pennsylvania sportsmen 

 frequently speak of what they term " willow-legged 

 quail," thereby meaning a bird with a greenish- 

 tinted leg and which they claim is a trifle larger 

 and finer than the ordinary type. Of a number 

 of birds examined, none showed this peculiarity, 

 all closely resembling the best Ontario specimens. 

 The most familiar call is, of course, the sweet 

 " Bob-white " of the male during the spring and 



