GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



BOB WHITE. 



\A/IDELY distributed tliroupfliout the Eastern por- 

 ' ^ tions of the United States, from southern Ontario 

 on the north to Florida on the south, tliis Uiost attractive 

 little bird, called in the Northern and Middle States Quail, 

 and in the South Partridge, is the best known and most 

 eajjerly soup^ht of all our game birds by the lovers of dog 

 and gun who rejoice in the sports of woods and fields. 

 It is a sociable species, frequents cultivated lands, resorts 

 to the vicinity of the farmer's dwelling and barns, and 

 f(»llows the onward ma*-ch of the pioneer as he penetrates 

 the wilderness to conquer the rough places of the land, 

 and produce smiling sunlit fields where once the darken- 

 ing forests stood. In Vermont, New Hampshire, and 

 northern New York it is rare, and occasionally occurs 

 in Maine, but throughout the Eastern States, except 

 Florida, and west of the Mississippi in the States of 

 Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, eastern Texas, 

 northern New Mexico, and the Indian Territory it is 

 more or less abundant; and is steadily advancing west- 

 ward in the track of the new settlements and cultivated 

 land. 



It has been introduced into South Dakota, pos- 

 sibly from Florida, as the birds I have seen from that 

 far Western State resemble very closely those from the 

 southern peninsula, and in 1871 some were turned loose in 



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