LAND BIRDS. 221 
Distribution.—Eastern United States and southern Ontario, from 
southern Maine to the South Atlantic and Gulf States; west to central 
South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Breeds 
throughout its range. 
In Michigan the Quail is abundant only in the southern half of the state, 
although it occurs at favorable points over the entire Lower Peninsula. 
The sole record for the Upper Peninsula is 
that by Dr. 8. Kneeland, who reported it as 
not uncommon on Keweenaw Point, the 
most northern point of the state, in 1856-57, 
His record is as follows: “This is another 
of the birds that follow man in his agricul- 
tural movements. A few years since Quails 
were unknown in the Upper Peninsula; now 
they are not uncommon on the Point; as yet 
they have not been seen on Portage Lake. 
As more attention is paid to agriculture for 
the Support of the mining population, the Fig. 60. Bob-white. Male. 
Quail will doubtless be common in the fields” From Hoffmann’s Guide. (Hough- 
(Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. VI, 1859, p. 237). Tee HUES) 
There are records for practically every county in the Lower Peninsula, 
but it has been winter killed almost everywhere except in the extreme 
south, and even there the severe winters have more than once nearly 
exterminated it. Ixneeland’s statement as to the increase of this species 
with the extension of agriculture, although not verified on Keweenaw 
Point, seems to have ample confirmation in the Lower Peninsula, in the 
northern portion of which this bird apparently was unknown until after 
1850. It was unknown at South Frankfort, Benzie county, until the 
summer of 1891, when a pair bred on the farm of Mr. W. G. Voorheis, and 
soon spread over the surrounding country. Mr. H. A. Danville, Jr., of 
Copemish, Manistee county, writes (Dec. 22, 1906): ‘The Quail was never 
seen in this county (Manistee) until about 1890. From that time until 
1903 they became more numerous, but the severe winter of 1903-1904 
almost destroyed them, and I have not seen one in the last three years, 
but a neighbor saw a flock about a mile from my place this week.” 
During the nesting season it is found in pairs, mostly in the open ground, 
and the male is a conspicuous figure as he sits on the top of a fence-post 
or stump and repeats his clear call of “bob-white” or “more wet” for half 
an hour at a time. : 
The nest is generally well concealed in brush or long grass, sometimes 
even approached by a covered arbor or tunnel through the grass, but more 
often exposed in at least one direction. It is deeply hollowed, well lined 
with fine grass, and may contain anywhere from ten to twenty-four white, 
unspotted eggs, which average 1.19 by .94 inches. a ; 
The female sits very close, but both birds take part in incubation and 
accompany the young after they are hatched. From this time on they 
are always found in families or ‘‘coveys” and the male is less often heard 
calling from the fence-posts, having plenty of other work to do. Not 
infrequently a second brood is reared, but in most cases this seems to be 
due to a failure of the first brood. However, young less than half grown 
are frequently seen in September, and nests with fresh eggs have been 
found occasionally in August and September. Ordinarily the eggs are 
laid from May 20 to June 10. 
