WHISTLER 207 



Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, 

 and Washington. Breeds throughout its range." 

 Season — ^Permanent resident. 

 (See plates, pages 210-211.) 



What a cheerful contrast is bob-white's clear, staccato 

 whistle to the dtawling coo of the anaorous dove! Char- 

 acter is as often expressed in a bird's voice as in a 

 human's. From their voices alone you might guess that 

 the dove and the quail are no relation. They do not be- 

 long even to the same order, bob-white being a scratching 

 bird and having the ruffed grouse and barnyard chicken for 

 his kin. Pheasants and turkeys are distantly related. In 

 the South people call him a partridge; in New England it is 

 the ruffed grouse that is known by that name; therefore, to 

 save confusion, why not always give bob-white the name 

 by which he calls himself? The chickadee, phoebe, 

 peewee, towhee, whippoorwill, bobolink, and kill-deer 

 who tell their names less plainly than he, save every one 

 who tries to know them much trouble. Bob-white! Ah, 

 bob-white ! rings from some plump little feathered gallant 

 on the outskirts of almost any farm during the long nesting 

 season. 



A slight depression in some dry, grassy field or a hole at 

 the foot of an old stump or weed-hedged wall will be lined 

 with leaves and grasses by both mates in May to receive 

 from ten to eighteen brilliant white eggs that are packed in, 

 pointed end downward, to economize space. If an egg 

 were removed, it would be diflBcult indeed to rearrange the 

 clutch with such economy. Would it not be cruel to 

 touch a nest which the outraged owners would at once 

 desert.'' 



