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GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



BOB-WHITE (CoUnus virginianvs virginianus). 

 Common or local name : Quail. 



Length. — About 10 inches. 



Adult Male. — Upper parts mainly reddish brown, with dark streaks and 

 light edgings; forehead and broad line over eye white, bordered with 

 black; throat patch white, bordered with black; tail short, gray; crown, 

 upper breast and neck all round brownish red; breast and belly whitish, 

 narrowly barred and marked with crescent-shaped, irregular black 

 marks; flanks reddish brown. 



Adult Female. — Similar, but duller, with very little black on head, and the 

 white mainly replaced by buff. 



Young. — Resemble female. 



Notes. — A ringing, whistled Bob-white or buck-wheat-ripe; a conversational 

 quit-quit and a whistled call and reply, repeatedly uttered when the 

 individuals of a flock are separated; also many low conversational 

 clucks and twitterings. 



Nest. — On ground, among bushes, grass or grain. 



Eggs. — Eight to eighteen or more, averaging 1.20 by .95, white, often 

 stained with brown. 



Season. — Resident throughout the year, but now rare in the northern part 

 of Massachusetts and in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where 

 it is found only in the lower latitudes and altitudes. 



