BOB-WHITE 
By EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH 
Che Mational Asgoriation of Audubon Societies 
EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 47 
“The cheery interrogative call of Bob-white was one of the first distinctive 
sounds of the open field that, as a child, I knew and loved among the hills of 
New England. It was as well known as the morning carol of the Robin in the 
orchard, the drumming of the Ruffed Grouse in the woods, or the reiterated 
plaint of the Whip-poor-will on the moonlit door-stone. Bob-white was ever 
an optimist, for even if, as the farmers stoutly maintained, his call sometimes 
presaged a storm, the prophecy “‘more wet” was delivered in such a cheerful 
frame of mind, and in such a joyous, happy tone, as to make rain seem the 
most desirable thing in life. t 
Perhaps there is no bird to which the American people are more deeply 
indebted for esthetic and material benefits. He is the most democratic and 
ubiquitous of all our game birds. He is not a bird of desert, wilderness or 
mountain peak, that one must go far to seek. He is a bird of the home, the 
farm, garden and field; the friend and companion of mankind; a much-needed 
helper on the farm; a destroyer of insect pests and weeds. He is called Quail 
in the North and Partridge in the South, but he has named himself Bob-white. 
When America was first settled, Bob-white was found from 
Range Maine and southern Canada to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 
Being a sociable and domestic species, it followed settlement, 
and now inhabits suitable localities in much of the United States, from the 
Rocky mountains to the Atlantic. It has been introduced into the island of 
Jamaica and into South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, California, Oregon and 
Washington, and has flourished in most of these places. A smaller race inhabits 
southern Florida, another lives in Texas; while closely allied, but distinct 
species, occupy Arizona and Mexico. 
Bob-white is cheerful, active, industrious, brave (but quick 
Character to learn caution where caution is necessary), and good -natured, 
although, in the rivalries of the mating season, the males become 
quarrelsome. Both sexes are devoted parents, and the male often takes his 
place on the nest. In captivity, he has been known to hatch, brood and care 
for the young. The birds of a covey are very affectionate toward one another. 
They converse together in a variety of tender, low, twittering tones; sleep side 
by side in a circular group on the ground, with heads out; and, if scattered, 
soon begin to call and seek one another, and never rest until all the surviv- 
ing members of their little company are together again. 
(255) 
