Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-11-17
THE STORY OF BOB WHITE.
Facts About Americas Most Popular
Game Bird

Game Bird.
A little pamphlet just issued by the
department Of Agriculture's bureau Of
biological survey might properly be
entitled 1.-The Story of Bob WhiIa." It
treats of the quail and was the last Of
fetal work Of Prof. Sylvester D. Judd,
an assistant in the bureau who hanged
himself a few weeks ago at his coun-
try home near Baltimore. Prof. Judd
had been in poor health for sever II
months and just before his death had
been released from a hospital in Bal
timore, after a course Of treatment for
melancholia.
The story of Bob White is simply
told, as becomes the life Of a simple
member Of the quail family. Many in
teresting facts concerning the habits
Of the bird, its usefulness to the farm
er and its popularity on menu cards
are told.
There are seven members OF the
quail family in the United States. The
most beautiful species occur in the
southwest and on the Pacific coast.
OF the seven species only one, the
Bob White (Colinus virginianus), is
indigenous to the eastern United States
where it ranges from southern New
England to Florida and Texas. The
sub-species, the Florida Bob White,
and the Texas Bob White. are recog-
nized by scientists. ..
Owing to the climatic influences, the
birds Of Florida and Texas differ
enough to be distinguished as geo.
graphic races. But wherever 1t oc-
ours, the Bob White has the same call
and varies little in habits.
The Bob White proper is a hand
some bird, but is the plainest CT the
seven species, with the exception Of
the cotton top or scaled quail of the
deserts Of southern Texas and Arizo-
ma. The latter is slatey blush on the
upper parts, which are ornamented
with scalelike markings, and has a
whitish crest.
1.-The most bizarre and curious Of
ALL" said Prof. Judd, "is the Merns
quail Of the high broken plains and
mountain slopes of southwestern Tex
es, southern New Mexico and Ari-
zona."
1t looks not unlike a little guinea
hen. 1t is the gentlest and most un-
suspicious Of the quail family and is
frequently killed with a stick or a
stone by persons who encounter it In
their walks. The people in the region
which 1t inhabits have given 1t the
name of fool quail on account Of this
trait.
The Bob White is the most widely
distributed and popular game bird In
the United States. While 1T is rapidly
being exterminated. its preservation
could be secured very easily, for. un-
like most wild fowls or animals, 1t
does not vanish with the growth of
agriculture, but increases when not
molested by hunters.
the northern, western and middle
states, while in the southern states 1t
is known as a partridge. Both names
were brought to America by English
colonists. The name Bob White is
from the familiar call note Of the bird.
In some Of it's characteristics the
bird differs strikingly from other
members of the family. For exam
pie, the crest-a we'll developed adorn-
ment Of several closely related Ameri-
can quails-in Bob White is invisible
when the bird is excited" IA
The common Bob White ranges
more or less generally over the east
ern half of the United States and
southern Ontario, except in the colder
parts, from Maine to
Florida and west to South Dakota,
Kansas and Texas. In addition colo
nies have been introduced and found
to thrive in Colorado, New Mexico,
Utah and the island Of Jamaica. The
bird has also been found in limited
numbers in Cuba, Mexico and Guate-
mala.
I'm the field" said Prof. Judd, "the
nuptial call note of the cock bird Is an
infallible guide to its identity. This
familiar challenge, sounding to the
sportsman like Bob White, 'Bob-Bob-
White and to the farmer like more
wet or no more wet is by no means
the only note of the species during the
breeding season.
"It was the good fortune of the
writer during the last week in June,
1902, to hear the nesting note and 9TH
er calls. Again and again the cock left
his distant perch, where he had been
whistling Bob White and, still calling,
the nest on the banks Of a
little sluggish briery run between two
open fields.
when within fifty yards Of his
mate he uttered the rally note. so
thrilling to the sportsman In the fall,
'ka a-loi-kee,' which the hen often an
swered with a single clear whistle.
Then followed a series of queer re-
sponsive 'caterwaulings,' more un-
birdlike than those Of the yellow
breasted chat. suggesting now the call
of the cat to it's kittens, now the scold-
ing of a Gagged gray squirrel, now the
alarm notes Of a mother grouse, blend
ed with the strident notes Of the gui-
nea hen.
"As a finale sometimes came loud,
rasping noise not unlike the effort of
a broken voiced whippoorwill."
The call of the hen to her young
sters is invariably "ka-loi-kee, "ka-
loi-kee," while the youngsters respond
"whoil-kee." At a close range the
whistle of the bird loses all its melody
and becomes a nasal shrek almost
painful to the ear.
AS many as forty-two eggs have
been found in the nest of a Bob White.
The main breeding season of the Bob
White in the northern states is May,
June and July, although Prof Robert
Ridgeway, curator Of ornithology in
Ipctit,itiOp found q