668 



Bob JVhite, the Game Bird of America. 



WHITE BOB WHITE. (FROM TI 



ION OF ALFRE 



M. MAYER.) 



Ortyx Virginianus, the O. Floridanus, and the O. Texanus. The 

 male of the Floridanus is about the size of the female Virginianus. 

 Its bill is longer and jet black ; its colors are darker and its black 

 markings are heavier. The Texamis is of the size of the Flori- 

 danus ; the colors are paler, the prevailing shade being rather gray 

 than brown ; upper part much variegated with tawny. Sometimes 

 Bob White dons a coat which is nearly white. One of these color- 

 less birds is shown in the above engraving. He was shot in the 

 month of November, by Mr. Charles Hallock, near Berlin, in 

 Worcester County, Maryland. 



If, after a day of successful shooting over a considerable area, the 

 sportsman will count the number of cock and hen birds which have 

 fallen to his aim, he will find the former always outnumbering the 

 latter. The exact ratio I do not know. I have but once separated 



