The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-01-27
BOB WHITE is A PLEASANT BIRD.


ago at his country home, near Balti-
more, was the author of very inter-
esting little pamphlet lately issued by
the department, on the quail. The
story of Bob White is simply told
and reference to the interesting hab-
its of the bird and its popularity on
the menu card are made.
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 Vir-
ginianus), is sindigeneous to the East
ern United States, where it ranges
from Southern New England to
Florida and Texas. The subspecies,
the Florida Bob White and the Texas
Bob White, are recognized by scien-
lists. Owing to the climatic inhuen
ces, the birds of Florida and of Texas
differ enough to be distinguished as
geographic races. But wherever it
occurs the Bob White has the same
call and varies little in habits.
The Bob White proper is hand
some bird, but he is the plainest of
the seven species, with the exception
of the cotton-top, or scaled quail, of
of the deserts Of Southern Texas and
Arizona. The latter is slatey-bluish
on the upper parts, which are orna-
mented with scalelike markings, and
has whiteish crest.
THE MOST CURIOUS.
1.-THE most bizarre and curious of
of all, /" said Professor Judd, is the
Merns quail of the high broken plains
and mountain slopes of Southwestern
Texas, South New Mexico and Ari-
zona."
1t looks not unlike little guinea
hen. 1t is the gentlest and most un-
suspicious of the quail family and is
frequently killed with stick or stone
by persons who encounter it in their
walks. The people in the region
which it inhabits have given it 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 it
is rapidly being exterminated, its
preservation could be secured very
easily, for, unlike most wild fowls or
animals, it does not vanish with the
growth of agriculture, but increases
when not molested by hunters. The
Bob White is called a quail in the
Northern, Western and Middle States,
while in the Southern States it 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 its characteristics the
bird differs strikingly from other men,
bers of the family. 'For example,
the crest-a well-developed adorn-
ment of several closely related Ameri-
can quails-in Bob White is invisible
except when the bird is excited"
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 mountainous parts, from Maine
to Florida, and west to South Dako-
ia, Kansas and Texas. In addition
colonies have been introduced and
found to thrive in Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah and the Island of ia
maica. The bird has also been found
in limited numbers in Cuba, Mexico
and Guatemala.
PECULIAR CALLS.
''In the field" said Professor 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.
1T was the good fortune of the
writer during the last week in June,
1902, to hear the nesting note and
other calls. Again and again the
cock left his distant perch, where he
had been whistling Bob White, and,
still calling, approached the nest on
the bank of a little sluggish briery
run between open fields.
when within so yards of his mate
he uttered the rally note, so thrilling
to the sportsmen in the fall, 'ka-loi-
kee,' which the ben often answered
with a single clear whistle. Then
followed series of queer responsive
'caterwaulings, more unbirdlike than
those of the yellow-breasted chat, ,sug-
gesting now the call of the cat 10 its
kittens, now the scolding of a Gagged
gray squirrel, now the alarm notes OF
a mother grouse, blended with the
strident cry of the guinea hen.
GAS finale sometimes came a loud,
rasping noise, not unlike the effort OF
of a broken voiced whippoorwill." +"
The call of the hen to her young.
sters is sinvariably "ka-loi kee, " ska
lci-kee," while the youngsters re-
spond "whoil- kee." At a close range
the whistle of the bird loses all its
melody and becomes nasal Shrek
almost painful to the ear. As many
as AZ eggs have been found in the
nest of Bob White. The mair
breeding season for the Bob White
in the Northern States is May, June
and July, although Professor Robert
Ridgeway, curator of ornithology il
the Smithsonian Institution, found {
nest of Bob White eggs in Southern
Illinois in the middle of October