THE “QUAIL” 63 
of a reddish brown hue, mottled and banded 
with yellow, black, and a bluish gray, which 
gives his plumage a purplish bloom. His 
breast is of the same reddish tinge, fading into 
a grayish white, these colors irregularly barred 
with fine jet black lines. The feathers of the 
top of the head are a trifle elongated and may 
be erected into a slight crest. A white band 
beginning at the base of the bill runs over each 
eye to the nape. On the throat is a broad 
patch of snowy white, bordered with black, 
as is also the line above the eye, just men- 
tioned. 
The female is similarly marked, though paler 
in hue, and the lines over the eyes and the patch 
on the throat are dull yellow. The male bird 
is about ten inches long, and in extent of wings 
fifteen inches; female a trifle smaller. Weight 
averages between six and eight ounces. 
‘“‘Bob White’’ varies much in his shading 
and depth of color in the different parts of his 
range. In general the northern Quail is larger, 
stronger of flight and rather more brilliantly 
colored than the bird of the south and south- 
west; the Bob White of the last named section 
is especially pale in coloring. But even in the 
