214 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



edition of the A. O. U. Check List of North American Birds, 

 number seven species and six sub-species. Either in describing 

 or arranging these birds, we usually commence with those par- 

 tridges commonly known among us as the Bob-white. They con- 

 stitute the genus Colinus, and lead off with our favorite eastern 

 Bob-white, a bird which, broadly speaking, is called Quail in the 

 north, and Partridge throughout the southern districts. Science 

 knows the form simply as Colinus virginianus, and its geographi- 

 cal distribution has been given in the Check List as " eastern 

 United States and southern Ontario, from southern Maine to the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States; west to central South Dakota, 

 Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas. Of late years 

 has gradually extended its range westward along lines of rail- 

 road and settlements; also introduced at various points in Colo- 

 rado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Wash- 

 ington. Breeds throughout its range." This partridge is re- 

 placed in Florida by the Florida Bob- white (C. v. floridanus), and 

 in " southern and western Texas, south to central Tamaulipas 

 and southern Nuevo Leon, Mexico," and " western Mexico and 

 Guadalajara," by the Texan Bob-white. The race of Bob-white 

 that is restricted to the Floridan peninsula is both darker and 

 smaller than the species of the north and east, while, according 

 to Eidgway, in the Texan Bob-white the upper parts are some- 

 what of a rusty color (except anteriorly), " an olive-grayish tint 

 prevailing, the scapulars, tertials, and lower back usually with- 

 out conspicuous black blotches, and the general surface usually 

 barred with lighter; black markings of lower parts usually 

 broad and nearly transverse, as in C. v. floridanus. Adult male 

 usually with a very distinct band of uniform pale cinnamon 

 across chest, immediately beneath the black collar." From So- 

 nora to southern Arizona, we met with the Masked Bob-w r hite 

 (Colinus ridgwayi), which was first discovered by Mr. Herbert 

 Brown, of Tucson, Arizona, and described by Mr. William Brew- 

 ster. It is a beautiful species, and a very different looking bird 

 as compared with our eastern Bob-w r hite. There is an excellent 

 account of its habits and range in Bendire's grand work on the 

 " Life Histories of North American Birds," and, to the best of 

 my recollection, it was figured in colors and published by Dr. 

 Allen several years ago in the reports of the American Museum 

 of Natural History. The genus Colinus, then, is made to contain 

 f wo species and two subspecies of Partridges, commonly known 



