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Bob-white; Quail — Part 1
Adult male--Plumage: Upper parts reddish brown, with more or less complete black bars; rump warm rich gray, slightly mottled and streaked with nearly black marks; tail very gray; head black in front of crown; black band across breast; throat and superciliary line white, belly whitish. Length--10.00.
Adult female--Duller, black band on breast indistinct.
Breeding Range--Throughout the Eastern States, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico.
Nest on the ground in open fields, grain fields, scrubby places, and frequently along a roadside, near a stone wall or fence. Usually the nest is open, but it is sometimes roughly arched; it is loosely made of grasses, leaves, weeds, and straw. The eggs are white, more or less stained with light brown, varying in number from 10 to 18, though sometimes as many as 25 are laid (Davie). Size--1.20 x .95.
The Quail, Bob-white, or Partridge is so well known that but little need here be said of it. Except during the breeding season, the birds are always to be found in bevies, or they might be called families, which, when scattered by the sportsman, reunite and continue living in or about the same locality. The mating season begins very early in May, and eggs are to be found from the third week in May until late in the summer, and rarely even in early fall, two or three broods being reared by a single pair. Incubation occupies 24 days, both birds assisting. Minot, in his book, "The Land Birds and Game Birds of New England," says, "It is not uncommon to find a covey of young quail hardly able to fly even in November."
The nest is fairly easy to find, especially when the parent bird is not sitting, as the white eggs are very conspicuous; but when the old bird is on the nest her protective colouring serves its purpose and makes her difficult to see. A likely place for the nest is on a farm, in the dry, grassy fields, or along the farm roads where there is a rank growth of weeds.