QUAILS. 211 
Then, if the door is quietly pulled open by the long 
string, they will generally step out, one at a time, pick 
up the seed, flap their wings, bask in the sun, caress 
each other, and finally run off into the shrubbery. 
The box should not be approached until the next day, 
and care ought to be taken that grain enough to support 
.the birds for a day or two is scattered in its vicinity. 
The quail of the Atlantic States (Ortyx virginianus), 
which is also known as the Bob White, and in the 
Southern States as the partridge, is abundant as far 
west as the Rocky Mountains, and even beyond that 
chain now, as it has been introduced into Utah, 
Oregon, and other places. This species has length- 
ened feathers on the crown which can be erected into 
a crest; a line over the eye; the throat is whitish, 
bordered with black; the vertex, neck, and breast are 
brownish-red, the remaining under parts being white 
and marked with black crescentic bars; and the 
sides are streaked with brownish-red, the upper parts 
being varied with tawny, black, gray, and chestnut. 
The color of the female is paler than that of the male, 
and the forehead, throat, and the line over the eye are 
buff instead of white. There are two varieties of this 
species in the South, one being confined to Florida, and 
the other to Texas. The difference between them and the 
northern bird is not very. great, and consists principally 
in the smaller size and darker plumage of the variety 
floridanus, and the paler and grayer hue of the variety 
tezanus, which is the common bird of Texas. 
The nest of the quail is a common affair, being merely 
a slight excavation or a natural depression in the 
ground which is lined with dry grass and a few feathers. 
The hen lays from fifteen to twenty-four white eggs, 
and sits on them three weeks, generally hatching all of 
them. When the young appear they are able to leave the 
nest, and though they are veritable mites of down, they 
