jhN 14 1922 
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MIDSUMMER HOLIDAY NUMBER. 
The Century Magazine. 
VoL. XXVI. AUGUST, 1883. No. 4. 
BOB WHITE, THE GAME BIRD OE AMERICA. 
Of all the game birds of America, none is 
better appreciated by the sportsman than little 
Bob White. He may be found from south- 
ern Maine and Canada to the Gulf, and from 
the Atlantic to the high central plains, and 
he is known by various names. In the North 
and East, he is called Quail ; in the South and 
West, he is Partridge; while everywhere, he 
is known as Bob White. Let us then call him 
as he calls himself, and we will not be be- 
rated for our ignorance of natural history. 
In fact, he is neither quail nor partridge ; but, 
to our mind he seems more akin to the latter 
than to the former of his European cousins. 
The quail of Europe is a smaller and more 
dumpy bird than our little friend. Elis flesh 
is dark and loaded with fat. His plumage is 
dull and his aspect plebeian. He does not 
form into coveys, but flocks at the periods of 
his migrations, when he flies at night, and in 
the company of countless numbers, during the 
month of April crosses the Mediterranean to 
the European shores and islands, returning to 
Africa in the autumn.* He is a polygamous, 
pugnacious, selfish little Arab, and lacks en- 
tirely that gallant bearing and affectionate 
nature which are marked characteristics of 
* “ The quails assemble at the approach of autumn, 
to cross the Black Sea over to the southern coast : 
the order of this emigration is invariable : toward 
the end of August the quails, in a body, choose one of 
those fine days when the wind, blowing from the north 
at sunset, promises them a fine night ; they take their 
departure about seven in the evening, and finish a 
journey of fifty leagues by break of day, — a wonderful 
distance for a short-winged bird, and that is generally 
fat and sluggish of flight.” 
“ Such prodigious quantities have appeared on the 
western coasts of the kingdom of Naples, in the vicin- 
ity of Nettuno, that one hundred thousand have in 
one day been taken, within the space of four or five 
miles.” — Dmiiel's “Rural Sports." 
the American bird. A wretched husband, he 
abandons his wives and young to their fate 
at the waning of the honeymoon; and his 
selfish manners are inherited by his chicks, 
who “ are hardly full grown when they sepa- 
rate, or, if kept together, fight obstinately, 
and their quarrels are terminated only by their 
common destruction.” It belies both the ap- 
pearance and character of Bob White to call 
him after such a mean-looking, disreputable 
bird as the European quail. 
The common European gray-partridge dif- 
fers somewhat in form from our bird, which 
in this particular resembles more closely the 
red-legged partridge of Europe ; but what is 
said of the habits of Bob White applies equally 
well to the European partridge. The latter 
weighs twice as much as Bob White, but he 
has not Bob’s sturdy, rapid, and often long- 
continued flight. Like our bird, his flesh is 
white ; he forms into coveys ; is monogamous, 
and keeps with his wife and brood till the 
following spring. He is not migratory or 
nocturnal in his habits. His wings are similar 
in form to those of our bird, having the third 
quill-feather the longest, which is a character- 
istic of the partridges, and distinguishes them 
from the quails, which have the first quill- 
feather the longest. 
It is true that Bob White is sometimes 
partly migratory in his habits. It is said 
that he has “ a running season ” in October, 
when, joining a pack, he leaves the region of 
his birth and travels on foot in a southerly and 
easterly direction till he reaches the borders 
of streams and bays, where he may remain 
till November, when he returns to his former 
haunts. During his travels it would be useless 
to hunt him, for he then runs with great 
rapidity before the dog and will not take wing. 
[Copyright, 1883, by The Century Co. All rights reserved.] 
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