QUAIL, OR BOB-WHITE. 



The prevailing color of the Quail is a reddish-brown some- 

 times streaked with black or gray ; white beneath, crossed with 

 lines of black; throat of the female brownish-yellow and of 

 the male white ; white line through the eye. Length, ten inches. 



They build their nests on the ground in a tuft of grass or 

 at the base of a hill of corn. The nest, made of grasses, con- 

 tains from ten to eighteen eggs about 1.00 x 1.20 inches. As 

 soon as the birds are hatched they are able to run about and 

 follow their mother in search of food. Seeds and grain are 

 eaten, but insects are the preferred diet. In keeping down insect 

 pests there are few birds that equal them. Only one family is 

 raised by a pair each year. This family is called a bevy or 

 covey. 



These birds remain all the year round with us. In 

 summer they live in the open fields and in winter they retire to 

 thickets of low bushes. Sometimes in winter a straw stack 

 attracts them and a whole family may live about it for several 

 weeks. If treated kindly, they will become quite fearless, even 

 entering the farmyard to eat grain with the farmer's domestic 

 fowls. Indeed, they belong to the same family as the hen and 

 they therefore may be called her cousins. 



Quails do not sing, but in the springtime the male 

 bird utters a peculiar love call to his mate which sounds like, 

 ah, Bob-White. From this call he has been nick-named. It is 

 often to be heard resounding from field to field from several 

 pairs that may be scattered over a farm. 



Quails roost upon the ground at night in a peculiar 

 manner. Every member of a bevy backs into position to rest, 



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