﻿8 
  BOBWHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  and 
  varies 
  but 
  little 
  in 
  habits. 
  A 
  closely 
  related 
  bird, 
  the 
  masked 
  

   bobwhite, 
  inhabited 
  southern 
  Arizona 
  until 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  years. 
  

   Owing 
  to 
  dry 
  seasons 
  and 
  the 
  overstocking 
  of 
  its 
  home 
  with 
  cattle, 
  

   this 
  bird 
  is 
  now 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  extinct 
  within 
  our 
  borders; 
  but 
  some 
  

   probably 
  exist 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  Sonora, 
  Mexico. 
  

  

  Although 
  bobwhites 
  are 
  handsome 
  birds, 
  yet 
  they 
  are 
  the 
  plainest 
  

   quail 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  except 
  the 
  ' 
  cotton 
  top 
  ' 
  or 
  scaled 
  quail 
  of 
  

   the 
  deserts 
  of 
  southern 
  Texas 
  and 
  Arizona. 
  The 
  latter 
  is 
  slaty 
  

   bluish 
  on 
  the 
  upper 
  parts, 
  which 
  are 
  ornamented 
  with 
  large 
  scale- 
  

   like 
  markings, 
  and 
  has 
  a 
  whitish 
  crest. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  bizarre 
  and 
  curious 
  of 
  all 
  is 
  the 
  Mearns 
  quail 
  of 
  the 
  high, 
  

   broken 
  plains 
  and 
  mountain 
  slopes 
  of 
  southwestern 
  Texas, 
  southern 
  

   New 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Arizona. 
  It 
  is 
  short 
  and 
  round 
  bodied, 
  like 
  a 
  little 
  

   guinea 
  hen, 
  and 
  this 
  superficial 
  likeness 
  is 
  increased 
  by 
  brilliant 
  round 
  

   white 
  spots 
  ornamenting 
  the 
  dark 
  sides. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  gentlest 
  of 
  all 
  

   the 
  quails 
  and 
  is 
  so 
  unsuspicious 
  that 
  when 
  a 
  person 
  encounters 
  one 
  

   it 
  often 
  walks 
  unconcernedly 
  about 
  or 
  stands 
  looking 
  curiously 
  at 
  

   the 
  newcomer, 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  infrequently 
  killed 
  with 
  a 
  stick 
  or 
  stone, 
  

   a 
  characteristic 
  which, 
  among 
  the 
  people 
  where 
  it 
  lives, 
  has 
  earned 
  

   for 
  it 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  ' 
  Fool 
  Quail.' 
  

  

  The 
  Gambel 
  quail 
  is 
  a 
  habitant 
  of 
  the 
  southwestern 
  desert 
  region, 
  

   where 
  it 
  ranges 
  the 
  brushy 
  foothills 
  and 
  the 
  valleys 
  along 
  water- 
  

   courses. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  beautiful 
  bird, 
  the 
  head 
  handsomely 
  marked 
  and 
  

   adorned 
  with 
  a 
  jet-black 
  recurving 
  crest, 
  and 
  the 
  flanks 
  bright 
  

   chestnut, 
  brilliantly 
  streaked 
  with 
  white. 
  This 
  quail, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  conspicuous 
  and 
  pleasing 
  forms 
  of 
  desert 
  life, 
  is 
  numerous 
  

   wherever 
  it 
  can 
  find 
  sufficient 
  food 
  and 
  water. 
  For 
  ages 
  it 
  has 
  

   claimed 
  many 
  a 
  remote 
  watering 
  place 
  as 
  its 
  own, 
  but 
  it 
  welcomes 
  

   the 
  settler 
  and 
  finds 
  additional 
  shelter 
  and 
  food 
  in 
  his 
  irrigated 
  

   fields. 
  Under 
  the 
  new 
  conditions 
  its 
  numbers 
  increase 
  and 
  it 
  repays 
  

   the 
  favors 
  received 
  by 
  becoming 
  semidomesticated. 
  Its 
  . 
  presence 
  

   adds 
  a 
  touch 
  of 
  bright 
  color 
  and 
  animation 
  to 
  the 
  dreary 
  surround- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  many 
  a 
  lonely 
  desert 
  ranch. 
  

  

  The 
  California 
  valley 
  quail 
  belongs 
  entirely 
  to 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast, 
  

   and 
  probably 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  beautiful 
  of 
  the 
  smaller 
  gallinaceous 
  birds 
  

   of 
  the 
  world. 
  It 
  resembles 
  the 
  Gambel 
  quail 
  in 
  its 
  recurving 
  black 
  

   crest 
  and 
  general 
  appearance, 
  but 
  exceeds 
  that 
  bird 
  in 
  the 
  richness 
  

   of 
  its 
  colors 
  and 
  markings. 
  It 
  is 
  abundant 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  Cali- 
  

   fornia. 
  

  

  The 
  California 
  mountain 
  quail, 
  the 
  largest 
  and 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  hand- 
  

   somest 
  of 
  this 
  group, 
  inhabits 
  the 
  wooded 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  

   coast, 
  and 
  bears 
  a 
  superficial 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  red-legged 
  partridge 
  

   of 
  Europe. 
  Like 
  the 
  Mearns 
  quail, 
  its 
  haunts 
  are 
  usually 
  more 
  

   remote 
  from 
  cultivated 
  lands 
  than 
  are 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  species. 
  

  

  The 
  services 
  to 
  agriculture 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  quails, 
  while 
  in 
  most 
  

  

  