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Northern Bobwhite
Photo credit: FlatRockHunting.com

Coveys of quail were once more common than the hounds and hunters who pursued them through the brushy fields of New Jersey.

On summer nights, their calls would pierce the air with a whistling, drawn-out screech of "bob-white, bob-bob-white," a song that gave the small, quirky, chicken-like birds the name of northern bobwhite.