The Bird Book Part 34

[Ill.u.s.tration 174: Mexican Jacana.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Yellowish olive.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

Page 173

[Ill.u.s.tration 175: C. A. Reed.

NEST AND EGGS OF BOB-WHITE.]

Page 174

[Ill.u.s.tration 176: BOB WHITE.

Female--Male.]

Page 175

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. Order X. GALLINae

GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, ETC. Family TETRAONIDAE

The members of this family are birds of robust form, subdued (not brightly colored) plumage, comparatively short legs and necks; the tarsi and toes are feathered in the Ptarmigan, the tarsi, only, feathered in the Grouse, and the tarsi and toes bare in the Partridges and Bob-whites. They feed upon berries, buds, grain and insects.

289. BOB-WHITE. _Colinus virginia.n.u.s virginia.n.u.s._

Range.--United States east of North Dakota and Texas and from the southern British Provinces to the Gulf coast.

A celebrated "game bird" which has been hunted so a.s.siduously in New England that it is upon the verge of extermination, and the covers have to be continually replenished with birds trapped in the south and west.

They frequent open fields, which have a luxuriant growth of weeds, or grain fields in the fall. Their nests are built along the roadsides, or beside stonewalls or any place affording satisfactory shelter. The nest is made of dried gra.s.ses and is arched over with gra.s.s or overhanging leaves so as to conceal the eggs. They lay from ten to twenty pure white eggs, which are very frequently nest stained when found. Size 1.20 .95. Often two or three broods are raised in a season, but frequently one or more broods are destroyed by rainy weather.

289a. FLORIDA BOB-WHITE. _Colinus virginia.n.u.s florida.n.u.s._

Range.--This sub-species, which is found in the southern half of Florida, is very much darker than the northern Bob-white, and is numerously barred below with black. Its nesting habits and eggs are identical with those of the preceding.

289b. TEXAS BOB-WHITE. _Colinus virginia.n.u.s texa.n.u.s._

Range.--Texas; casually north to Kansas. A grayer variety of the Bob-white. The nesting habits and eggs are the same as those of the Bob-white, except that the eggs may average a trifle smaller. Size 1.18 .92.

291. MASKED BOB-WHITE. _Colinus ridgwayi._

Range.--Sonoran region of Mexico north to southern Arizona.

The female of this species is like that of the Texan Bob-white. Their nesting habits and eggs are in all respects like those of the other Bob-whites. Size of eggs, 1.20 .95.

[Ill.u.s.tration 177: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bobwhite. Florida Bobwhite. Masked Bobwhite.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 176

292. MOUNTAIN QUAIL. _Oreortyx picta picta._

Range.--Pacific coast of North America from California to Was.h.i.+ngton.

This is the largest of the Partridges, being 11 inches in length. It is of a general grayish color, with chestnut throat patch, and chestnut flanks, barred with white. Two long plumes extend downward from the back of the head. This species nests abundantly in the mountainous portions of northern California and throughout Oregon, and is gradually increasing in numbers in Was.h.i.+ngton. As a rule they nest only on the higher mountain ranges, placing their nest of leaves under the protection of an overhanging bush or tuft of gra.s.s. Their eggs number from six to fifteen, and are of a pale reddish buff color. Size 1.35 1.05.

292a. PLUMED QUAIL. _Oreortyx picta plumifera._

Range.--Mountain ranges of California and Lower California, chiefly in the southern parts of the former. This species is like the latter except that it is grayer on the back of the head and neck. Its nesting habits and eggs are like the preceding.

292b. SAN PEDRO QUAIL. _Oreortyx picta confinis._

Range.--San Pedro Mountains, Lower California.

This species, which is grayer above than the preceding two, breeds only in the highest peaks of its range. Otherwise its nesting habits and eggs are the same as the other Plumed Partridges.

293. SCALED QUAIL. _Callipepla squamata squamata._

Range.--Mexico and southwestern border of the United States.

This blue gray species is 10 inches in length; the feathers on the neck and underparts have narrow dark borders, thus giving the plumage a scaly appearance, from which the birds take their name. They have a small tuft of whitish or buffy feathers on the top of the head. It is especially abundant in the dry arid portions of its range, being found often many miles away from water. Their eggs are laid in a shallow hollow under some small bush or cactus, and number from eight to sixteen; they are creamy white, finely specked with buff or pale brownish. Size 1.25 .95.

[Ill.u.s.tration 178: Reddish buff.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mountain Partridge. Scaled Partridge.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Creamy white.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

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293a. CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED QUAIL. _Callipepla squamata castanogastris._

Range.--Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas and southward into Mexico.

This sub-species is like the last with the addition of a chestnut patch on the belly. Their breeding habits do not vary in any particular way from those of the Scaled Partridge.

294. CALIFORNIA QUAIL. _Lophortyx californica californica._

Range.--Coast region of California, Oregon, Was.h.i.+ngton and British Columbia.

This is one of the most beautiful of the Partridges, with its crest of feathers rising from the crown and curving forwards so that the broadened ends hang directly over the bill. It is about the size of the preceding species, and is distinguished from the following one by its white forehead, chestnut patch on the belly and the scaly appearance of the feathers in that region, by its dark crown and the gray flanks with white streaks. They lay from eight to twenty eggs with a creamy white or buffy ground color, handsomely blotched with shades of brown and yellowish brown. Size 1.20 .93.