1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
363 
“Bob White,” or the American Quail. 
BY J. M. MURPHY. 
The Quail of the Atlantic States (Ortyx Virgini- 
-tmus), which is also known as the “Bob White,” and 
in the Southern States as the Partridge, is abundant 
as far West as the Rocky Mountains, and even be¬ 
yond that chain now, as it has been introduced into 
Utah, Oregon, and other places. This species has 
lengthened feathers on the crown which can be 
erected into a crest; a line over the eye: the throat 
is whitish, bordered with black. The vertex, neck, 
and breast are brownish-red, the remaining under 
parts being white and marked with black crescentic 
bars ; and the sides are streaked with brownish-red, 
the upper parts being varied with tawny, black, 
gray, and chestnut. The color of the female is 
paler than that of the male, and the forehead, 
throat, and the line over the eye are buff instead 
•of white. There are two varieties of this species 
in the South, one being confined to Florida, and 
the other to Texas. The difference be¬ 
tween them and the Northern bird is not 
very great, and consists principally in the 
smaller size and darker plumage of the 
variety Floridanus , and the paler and grayer 
hue of the variety Texanus, which is the 
common bird of Texas. The nest of the 
Quail is a common affair, being merely a 
slight excavation or a natural depression 
in the ground which is lined with dry 
grass and a few feathers. The hen lays 
from fifteen to twenty-four white eggs, and 
sits on them three weeks, generally hatch¬ 
ing all of them. When the young appear 
they are able to leave the nest, and though 
they are veritable mites of down, they are 
able to follow their mother. They are ex¬ 
ceedingly cautious little creatures, for the 
moment the old bird sounds an alarm they 
scatter in every direction and hide in the 
grass until the reassuring voice of their 
guardian summons them to her side. If a 
dog or a cat approaches the brood, the 
mother pretends to be wounded, and flut¬ 
ters far enough ahead of it to keep out of 
harm’s reach, and when she has led it some 
distance away from them, she rises in the 
air with a cluck of joy and triumph, and 
returns to her family, which she soon 
gathers about her by endearing calls. Al¬ 
though the Quail is a timid bird, yet it 
has been known to associate with the barn¬ 
yard fowl, especially in winter, and to re¬ 
main around the outhouses of a farm for 
weeks at a time. Its eggs have also been 
hatched by a hen, and the chicks followed 
their foster mother until the ensuing spring, 
when, through some overpowering instinct 
of nature, they left her and sought their 
free companions. Instances are known 
ever, in which the birds were not only content to 
remain in confinement, but also to lay eggs which 
proved fertile when hatched under a Bantam hen or 
either of the parent quails. It is often rather diffi- 
« cult fora captive female to hatch her own eggs, 
as the male dallies with her so much, and uses all 
his powers of fascination to such an extent, that he 
frequently induces her to desert her nest, in order 
to prolong the love season. The Virginia Quail has 
two broods in a year if the weather is fine and the 
summer long, but in the more northern regions it 
raises only one, unless the first eggs laid should be 
destroyed, and then it may try to raise another. 
While the female is hatching, her mate sits on a 
shrub or a fence close by, and whistles his soft 
notes of “ Bob White ” by the hour, as if he were 
encouraging or comforting her with words of en¬ 
dearment. Although the bird derives its ordinary 
name from these two notes, yet it has a variety of 
others which it uses when a bevy assembles or 
when it meets its kindred out for a promenade. 
The Quail eats grain, insects, and sometimes 
grapes, but it is content with a very small quantity 
of the latter food, hence the statements made 
against the Valley Quail in California, that it des¬ 
troys vineyards, are partially founded on a misap¬ 
prehension. To poison it by the thousand on this 
ground would therefore seem to be wrong, for it 
often more than atones for any harm it may do by 
the quantity of Chinch-bugs and other insects it 
destroys, and which, but for it, would lay waste 
the grain fields. The favorite feeding resorts of 
the “ Bob Whites ” in fine weather are the stubble- 
fields which are close to water. They frequent 
these each morning and evening, but seek cover in 
the bushes, hedges, and fences during the day. 
They lie in concealment nearly all day in rainy 
weather, and if tracked by dogs they try to escape 
by running, so that a man may have to follow them 
for several hundred yards before he can get near 
enough to flush them. They hie to the timber for 
shelter in snowy weather, but return to the field in 
a day or two after the storm has ceased. If they 
are flushed then they will fly for the first conven¬ 
ient cover, and try to hide, or to escape by run¬ 
ning through the bushes as fast as they can. They 
often double like a hare on such occasions, and 
give a dog—unless he is exceedingly staunch and 
but after that hour they resort to the banks of 
streams and sloughs, and lie on the sunny side of 
fallen logs and preen themselves. They go to the 
stubbie again in the evening, and when they have 
dined they rise suddenly in the air and drop in a 
neighboring field, taking excellent care not to run 
about much, for fear of leaving a trail for their foes 
to follow. They generally sleep in a circle, with 
their heads turned outwards, so as to better guard 
against a surprise; and if they are not disturbed 
they frequent the same roosting-place for several 
nights in succession. Although they have many 
enemies, the worst is the hawk, which skims noise¬ 
lessly over the grass or darts down upon them 
suddenly, from a high altitude. If they espy this 
deadly foe in the winter, when the ground is cov¬ 
ered with snow, they dash into the fleecy shelter 
and soon make a hole large enough to protect them 
from all danger. The best time for quail shooting 
is November and December, when the frosts have 
wilted the corn-stalks and deprived the bushes of 
their thick covering of leaves. The sports¬ 
man should be early afield, for as soon as the 
sun appears the birds leave their roosting 
places and commence running about. Their 
scent is then easily found by a dog, especi¬ 
ally if they are plentiful, and they generally 
are at that season, as they congregate in 
large bevies. When they are flushed they 
fly for the first cover, then scatter, and lie 
so close, in many instances, that a person 
may kill the majority of them, as they rise 
singly or in pairs. The best dogs frequent¬ 
ly fail to detect birds which are actually 
under their noses. The cause of this is at¬ 
tributed by some persons to the power the 
quails have of withholding their scent, 
while others assume that it is the result of 
“too much scent being scattered about,” 
as the birds run in various directions when 
they alight, and thus make it impossible to 
locate them. Some think that the creatures 
are so terror-stricken on reaching cover that 
they press the feathers close to the body, 
and thus prevent their scent from escaping. 
Either of the latter two theories seem more 
plan ible than the first, as it does not seem 
possible for a bird to have the power of 
voluntarily withholding the odor of its 
bod} 7 . The only way to rout the quails, 
when they baffle the dogs, is to thoroughly 
beat the ground or bushes, as they often 
wait until they are almost kicked out before 
they take to the wing. The Virginia Quail 
is the only species of its genus that really 
affords good sport, as it is the only one that 
will lie any way well to a dog. It is also 
“bob white,” or the Virginia quail, (Ortyx Virginiauus), 
how- 
keen-nosed—a great deal of trouble to trail them. 
If one of the bevy calls soon after seeking shelter, 
a person may expect all to flush again in a short time, 
as it is a proof that they do not like their refuge. 
Should the sportsman desire to know their place 
of retreat, in case they keep silent, he can learn it 
by uttering their call, as he is almost sure to re¬ 
ceive an answer, especially in the early part of the 
season. The call must be correct, however, or it 
will only make them scamper off. When the cold 
weather approaches, and the ground becomes 
frozen, quails frequent the more open stubble-fields 
in search of food. If they are flushed then they 
rush for the tall grass or bushes, and lie so well 
that a whole bevy may be killed one by one, if a 
person has a good dog. Old birds are so cunning, 
however, that they may not await the approach of 
even the steadiest setter, but fly to the thickets or 
woods, if any are near, on catching sight of him. 
The bevies leave the high grounds in October 
and march or fly to the banks of streams or lakes, 
but they return in November, which is called the 
“running season,” on acount of their wildness, and 
the fact that they will not lie before a dog, but run 
ahead of him as fast as they can, and seek shelter 
in bushes and thickets where it is impossible for 
him to follow them. They may be found in grain 
fields up to eleven o’clock In clear, frosty weather. 
scattered over the greater part of the 
country, from Massachusetts to the Rocky 
Mountains, but it is far more numerous in 
the Western States, where it is nothing unusual 
for a man to bag twenty or thirty brace in a day, 
with a muzzle-loader. A pot-hunter has boasted 
of killing two thousand in a little over five months, 
and a person who considered himself dexterous 
with the gun was known to kill two hundred and 
ninety in three hundred shots. The birds are easi¬ 
ly bagged in the open ground early in the season, 
as they fly straight away—if a person does not be¬ 
come nervous from the rapidity of their flight. Ex¬ 
citable people should try to give them a start of 
twenty or thirty yards before firing, as that dis¬ 
tance will enable the shot to scatter, and increase 
the possibilities of a hit. They ought also to take 
deliberate aim, as snap shots are not so likely to 
be successful as those delivered with a prompt but 
steady swing. If the birds are not too wild, a 
charge of three drams of powder and an ounce 
and an eighth of No. 10 shot will be found suffi¬ 
ciently powerful to bring down the toughest old 
cock, going straight away at full speed ; but No. 8 
is better at a later period in the season, when the 
birds are exceedingly wild, as it has a velocity of 
seventy-one feet a second greater than No. 10 
shot. It may also be stated that a ten-guage gun 
will seud its charge one hundred feet per second 
faster than a twelve-guage can, and is therefore 
the best to use throughout the year. 
