242 



OEDEKS OF BIEDS— UPLAND GAME-BIEDS 



BOB-WHITE. 



As the preceding diagram shows, there are no 

 true pheasants in America save those that have 

 been introduced from China and Japan. All 

 the birds to which that name correctly applies 

 inhabit the Old World. 



THE GROUSE FAMILY. 



Tetraonidae. 

 Our dear old friend the Common " Quail " is 

 now called Bob-White l in all the modern bird- 

 books, but to about fifty million Americans it 

 is yet, and ever will be, the Quail. It is our 

 longest-known and most widely known Ameri- 

 can game-bird, and it is almost wholly a United 

 States bird. It is at home from Maine and Flor- 

 ida to Texas, the western border of Oklahoma 

 and South Dakota. In very many eastern lo- 

 calities, however, it has been almost exterminated 

 by excessive shooting, and during the past ten 

 years, Mr. Charles Payne, of Wichita, Kansas, 

 has caught and shipped east fully hvo million 

 live quail for use in restocking quailless game- 



1 Co-li'nus virginianus. Average length, 10 inches. 



preserves. The extermination of desirable spe- 

 cies always costs money. 



The call of this bird is one of the most cheer- 

 ful sounds in nature, and for carrying qualities 

 it is far-reaching. From the heart of a hazel 

 thicket one hears his loud, shrill whistle, saying 

 "CLERK-*/ CLERK-*/ CLERK-*/" until 

 everything rings again. On the hurricane deck 

 of a high stump, or the top rail of a fence, he 

 poises himself, points his bill at the sky, swells 

 out his white throat and whistles long and loud, 

 "Bob! bob! WHI-EET!" But the feathered 

 rascal knows very well when the close season is 

 on; and when the "law is off" he sings very 

 small. 



That many men enjoy Quail shooting is no 

 cause for wonder or reproach. The birds he 

 close in the edge of the brush until the dogs 

 are ready to tread upon them, when " Burr-r-r-r! " 

 the covey explodes in the air like a bomb, the 

 gray and brown fragments fly in half a dozen 

 directions, and the young sportsman is so "rat- 

 tled" he is almost sure to miss. A well-scared 

 Quail is no easy mark. 



Quail are rapid breeders, and in protected 

 localities they increase rapidly. A good bird- 

 law in Kansas has resulted in bringing back the 

 vanished flocks, to a surprising extent. Un- 

 fortunately, however, it is not possible to breed 

 Quail in large numbers in confinement, even 

 with a quarter section of land for the experi- 

 ment. 





CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. 



The flesh of this bird is a great table delicacy, — 

 provided it has not been kept in cold storage. A 

 cold-storage Quail is as good to the taste as a 

 chunk of pressed sawdust, but no better; and 



