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Bull. - uss Ye rres. Cgassit — -— N POTATO FIELD. BOBWHITE | Peo. Ort Vy Nee OF AGRICULTURE BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY—BULLKTIN No. 21 C. HART MERRIAM, Chief THE BOBWHTTE AMD THER QUAILS OF THE UNITED STATES IN THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS BN Seb NAS Dhan, -ID- JID) ASSISTANT, BIOLOGICAL SURVEY RD se is =e null = =k = —, , = WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1905 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. DePpaRTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BioLoGicaL SURVEY, Washington, D. C., July 31, 1905. Sir: T have the honor to transmit herewith, for publication as Bul- letin 21 of the Biological Survey, a report on the quails of the United States and their economic value, by Sylvester D. Judd. The quails as a group are perhaps better known through the country than any other birds. From the time of the first settlements in New Eng- land and Virginia till the present day they have been favorite objects ef pursuit by sportsmen, and are widely known as table delicacies, The chief purpose of the present paper is to consider the quails in their economic relations to the farmer—relations not so well uader- stood as they deserve to be. Investigation shows the birds to be no less important in their economic than in their other relations to man. They are found to be exceedingly valuable allies of agriculture be- cause of the quantity of noxious insects and weed seeds they destroy, while the harm they do is insignificant. TI am indebted to my assistant, E. W. Nelson, for preparing the introduction and critically reading the text, and to the Bureau of Entomology for the identification of many of the insects mentioned. Respectfully, C. Harr Merriam, Chief Biological Survey. Hon. James Witson, Secretary of Agriculture. we) PeELOGUC HON. 2 se ee ee SM NN Berk Fs gt ag cna Nore see ee cg hexbobwihite (COlMmUs: VITGUNIGHUSs) so-0 = ote bee eet Ss ee Se all Totes See ee ee ers ee erase ey eee ard he BCCI Sa Ls eee ee eee ee Pre ee ae tes re Se Generalihabitste see see ee yoy we ee re SS eae eae Bobwhite.as‘an-allyot.the farmer = so. 25 S222 es kG eet eee Bobwhitecasam-asset_ Ok bhew aria = 75 ees 5 2 SL ese ee BoObAnte as all: ALLICLe: Ol) TOOU ee eek Se ee ee ee Bobwhite as an object of sport - ---- a ee pe el pe te SO = SERGI RVY BEE CLO La DO DIWINICG Sto oy oe ee BE ee DECEEASCLOLEDODWWINTLC.. 2 tear ee ee On eo See het fae hee hevislahionvingbenali: Of Ob White =e. = oh Ses ee See ee ek ee Measures for preservation and propagation _____.-----------.---- ats Bio@eelic bse erie eee ees eG ee eg Se Se GO eiGaAStt OG Ona gee oe ee ee ene ei Se Eee NVC SCCU Stas OMCs = iets ecb went ne ne es i ee Se hist Ofeweedrseedsica tency te ct secs Sits Re Nye ee Mast and pine seeds as food TEESE BCE SRE OT 9 oe Br oe aN Nea Reg TiShrOmpnn tt Sue a Leman a= Sao gee eg > a ter EO es SS See meaves Ana Duds as food... 2. 22 BRE rego ox ae ty eee 2 SRR Sh ed LG Mrs ed as ey a gS a et re eS isist-of bugs eaten=s 22. S22 hice ee Ron ace Se SN Grasshoppers and allied insects eaten Giterpilars Catone s 20 nes foam in tke eo eo ees Oe Se List of caterpillars eaten Miscellaneous animal food HOR Ol De sy Olle eke ee AS OSL! Sr sh ie ie Se ee ped ere Masked-pobwnhite (Colinus ridgwayt) = 2 23. = 2 oe Bt Be ee eae California quail (Lophortyx californicus) Food habits Vegetable food Fruit Weed seeds ______- ee ten ot ape ee see et Misael ASS Ege RO OUNOta Mesy,OUll te See Sipe oe ee ee RS ee Gambel quail (Lophortyx gambeli) LE SGA LEY Ca SE se eS a a tie gt Mountain quail (Oreortyx POECTUS ener any ee ak ee ee Ea Gebi ek fod bye oe ene ee ere es et eS Suto 5 0 ene Ele quail (CALM PCpIG SGUOMOLA). 5-52 =e. oe 8 ESE Hid th opener ee ase meno See Se ee es Mearns quail (Cyrtonyx montezume mearnsi) _________.______------------ Food habits =) Cu Ouro cu Cu Cue ct HO Or WFR & or cl co fm DOD a 0 Toe LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. Page. PRATER “Bobwihiberce wee sew oe ee remeron Coe ee Ebates apres A ooo Frontispiece. fis © 2 008 cre) eco ro ten eae nme noah ee ee le eee ENA a tee. gale ee 22 oe 56 TEXT FIGURES. BiG. ds Wateheorasswsced ace. = ee SEs Tr ate dy 8 Sa Reet A ys ere s 31 2, :, CLAD SSLASS SCO Cece wea Sap ee Silla ap ok (he gw ye om ee oe I cae Oe ae 32 Bs KNOUEPASSISCEGIS at Sass rome ekardt ee ren ay eae ee aR eee es Ty 33 {. Mayweed: Seed is 2-125 ec oe Saver foi Peoria rene pane ewe eee ee eee 53 5, A fila ria SOG ea ae ee as CRE Nae et Aue ng en 53 6. Black mustardeseed: ses. psa eae AE Sogo ime 1c ee Raat Ee pa 53 f. ‘CHiGK WeEG'SCeCG = se ee Reet Site ae Ge RE eel 54 8. GeraniUmMeiseed sea ce stoi: aio rar eee are as ene ag eine ee 54 9--Sorrelsced Seo = OR eee 3 een RATE SRC AE APES pice Sei cube eae 54 10; Chess seedia2i2s eee oa oe Fe Ec ie see gee 55 6 THE BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF THE UNITED STATES IN THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS. INTRODUCTION. The quails of the United States, because of their interesting habits and marvelous diversity of form and color, are a notably attractive group. All are handsome birds, but the most striking and beautiful species live in the Southwest and on the Pacific coast. Seven species oceur within our borders, but only one in the Eastern States. The others are widely distributed from Texas to California and Oregon. Their range was, and still is, continuous along the entire southern border of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific; but there is an irregular belt along the northern border and a large area in the interior, comprising the Great Plains, the northern three-fourths of the Great Basin, and the Rocky Mountains, in which they appear to have been originally wanting. With few exceptions our quails welcome the extension of agri- culture, and the added food supply in farmed areas results In an increase of their numbers. This is equally true of the bobwhite of the East, and of some of the desert species of the West. So fully does the bobwhite appreciate the advantages of the farm that its range has increased with the extension of the cultivated area, espe- cially west of the Mississippi. The quails, because of their cheerful habits, their beauty, and their value as food, are usually welcome on the farm; but their real value to agriculture is not vet generally understood. The investigations of the Biological Survey show that these birds, with rare exceptions, are not only harmless, but that usually they are very useful to agricul- ture. This is particularly true of the bobwhite, which constantly feeds on injurious weed seeds and insects, and thus renders valuable service to the farmer. In return for this good service it is but fair that these birds should be treated with friendly care and interest. The well-known bobwhite is the only quail indigenous to the East- ern United States, where it ranges from southern New England to Florida and Texas; but owing to climatic influences the birds of Florida and of Texas differ enough to be distinguished as geographic races. Wherever it occurs, however, the bobwhite has the same call, 5112—No. 21—05 M 2 7 8 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. and varies but little in habits. Ibid., vo]. 19, p. 41. er LEGISLATION. 19 Carolina during the same season.¢ The value of this bird, both to the farmer and the sportsman, renders the question of its maintenance and increase one of much importance. So assiduously is the bob- white sought by sportsmen and market hunters that intelligent and concerted efforts are needed even to maintain its present numbers. LEGISLATION IN BEHALF OF BOBWHITE. In addition to natural causes, reasons for the diminished numbers of bobwhites are diversity in the open season, shooting out of sea- son, excessive shooting in season, and unrestricted shooting and trapping for market. Lack of uniformity in laws of adjoming States, and in some cases of adjoining counties, renders their observ- ance difficult and their enforcement often impossible. No other game bird has been the subject of so much legislation, which, begin- ning in New York in 1791, now extends to every State and Territory where the bird is native or has been introduced. The length of sea- son during which the bird should be protected by law is a matter of paramount importance. It goes without saying that no shooting should be permitted during the breeding season, which must be understood to last until the young of the year are strong of wing and fully developed for the struggle for existence. Besides this the close season ought to include months of rest, during which the birds can fortify themselves for the physiological strain of the next period of reproduction. As now established the open season varies from twenty-one days in Ohio to seven months in Mississippi. In North Carolina, however, where nearly every county has its own law, the bobwhite may be shot throughout the year in five counties. Virginia has reeently abolished county laws and established uniformity, an example that other States, especially Southern States, would do well to follow. It is gratifying to note that in 1903 the open seasons were shortened by New York, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia. In eight States—Maine, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Mon- tana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah—the bobwhite is absolutely protected for a term of years, extending to 1920 in Colorado. Two conditions justify such prohibition of shooting. First, when ex- cessive shooting or other causes have made recuperation necessary ; second, when birds just introduced into a new locality need time to establish themselves. Wherever the bird can not hold its own with an open season of three weeks absolute protection for a period of vears is demanded. The length of the open season must vary with varying conditions, but in view of the general decrease of the birds there would seem to be a growing need for shortening it. The sooner Northern States limit their shooting to one month the better. Even f 2 Recreation, vol, 16, p, 372, 20 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. Southern birds can not stand the present continuous fusillade of from four to seven months, and the open season in the South shouid be limited to two or, at most, three months. | The slaughter of the bobwhite by sportsmen who hunt for pleasure . is Insignificant in comparison with that by professional market hunters. At the present time (1904), in about 25 States, the law takes cognizance of this fact by prohibiting the sale of birds killed within the State or imported from other States, and the general tendency altogether to prohibit the sale is growing each year. Every State except Mississippi forbids the sending of certain game outside the State—a restriction on the sportsman as well as the market hunter, although the privilege of carrying home a limited amount of game is often granted under a nonresident license. Fourteen States have laws, also affecting both classes, limiting a day’s bag to from 5 to 50 birds. Many sportsmen and farmers would be glad if the limit were set at 12. Laws discriminating against nonresidents protect the game and benefit the landowner, provided visiting sports- men are not barred altogether by unreasonable fees. Thirty-one States and Territories require nonresident licenses. In addition to State game laws there are certain Federal laws, the most important of which is the Lacey Act, which provides, among other things, through the Department of Agriculture, for the preservation, distri- bution, introduction, and restoration of game birds, and also under- takes to bring to justice persons who transport from one State to another game lalled in violation of local laws. The latter clause proves effective in restricting such illegal shipments and in suppress- ing professional dealers that kill out of season in one State and attempt to sell in another where the season is still open. A law to prevent keeping birds in cold storage from one season to another would stop certain loopholes in the present laws and greatly aid in preserving game. An effective system of State game officials where it is lacking would aid in enforcing game laws. A number of States depend solely on county officers; but experience has shown that with- out a central State organization and special game wardens the law to a great extent becomes a dead letter. MEASURES FOR PRESERVATION AND PROPAGATION. Stringent laws against trapping the bobwhite have been enacted, but such legislation should permit legitimate trapping for purposes of propagation. One of the most important problems before game commissioners is the restocking of depleted covers. If, however, the hobwhite can be reared successfully in captivity, all trapping may be prohibited. The sporting magazines (‘ Forest and Stream’ and ‘American Field’) mention cases of the bird’s laying in captivity PRESERVATION AND PROPAGATION. 21 and raising its young; and in a letter to the writer, dated September 2, 1904, G. W. Jack, of Shreveport, La., says: I now have a pair of quails (bobwhites) which were trapped last winter and which I keep in a large wire coop> They have made a nest in some grass and have laid about 12 or 15 eggs. The eggs were laid very irregularly, not more than two or three a week, so that by the time the nest was full the season was far advanced, which perhaps accounts for the female not sitting. ‘The eggs were set under a hen and proved fertile, but the young were eaten by the chicken as fast as they hatched. I concluded that this irregularity or slowness in laying was the result of the lack of insect and other egg-producing food, as the birds subsist almost who!ly on grain. Of late, however, they have learned to eat with much relish the yolk of an egg hard boiled. The failure of the female to sit was probably due to the unnaturai confinement in so small a space, a difficulty which could readily be remedied if attempts to raise quail were made on a large scale. Unquestionably, too, it would be necessary to feed the quail, at least during the nesting period, to a considerable extent upon animal food. An instructive account of quail breeding in confinement appears in Forest and Stream for September 28, 1882 (p. 164). The female had been hatched and reared by a bantam hen, and this circumstance has an important bearing on experiments of this kind. It is altogether probable that bobwhites hatched and reared in this way would lend themselves to experiments in propagation far more readily than wild birds trapped for the purpose. The Department of Agriculture obtained three pairs of bobwhites from Kansas, which after five months’ captivity are almost as wild as when first caged and show no signs of mating. Experiments in the domestication of bobwhite are well worth trying, however, because of the demand from clubs and individuals for live birds to restock their grounds. So great has become the demand in recent years that it is estimated that 200,000 birds would be required annually to fill it. During the spring of 1903 the demand far exceeded the supply, even at $5 a dozen, and sometimes at twice that figure. Success in increasing the numbers of bobwhite depends largely on controlling its natural enemies, which include snakes, foxes, weasels, minks, skunks, domestic cats, and certain hawks and owls. Several species of snakes eat its eggs and young. Writing from Texas, Major Bendire says: “The many large rattlesnakes found here are their worst enemies. One killed in May had swallowed five of these birds at one meal; another had eaten a female, evidently caught on her nest, and half a dozen of her eggs; a third had taken four bob- whites and a scaled partridge.”* In pico don burs, County, Va., the Life Hist. N. Am. Birds (11, p. 8, 1892, 29 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. king snake (Lampropeltis getula) has been known to eat a clutch of egos. At Falls Church, Va., Harvey Riley captured a black snake (Bascanion constrictor) which disgorged a newly hatched bobwhite. Reference has been made already to the marked decrease in the number of bobwhites on the 230-acre farm at Marshall Hall, from fifty-odd birds in July to less than a dozen in December, though not more than a dozen had been shot. This decrease was probably due, at least in part, to gray foxes; for in August and September these animals were numerous, and often came after the chickens within a stone’s throw of the farmhouse. Other predaceous mammals and birds of prey were not numerous, but foxes frequently were seen at midday searching through pastures where there were broods of bob- whites. It must be easy for a fox to exterminate a whole brood of newly hatched bobwhites, and no difficult task to catch them even when three-fourths grown. Minks and weasels, when numerous, are probably even more destructive to young bobwhites than to domestic poultry. The domestic cat that takes to foraging in woods and fields is also a menace and should be shot on suspicion, for it undoubt- edly preys on game birds, as it is known to do on song birds and young rabbits. In Maryland and Virginia the writer has found the crow plunder- ing nests of the bobwhite, and in these States the crow is an enemy also of poultry. Doctor Fisher states in his Hawks and Owls of the United States that of the forty-odd species which he studied he found only nine that killed the bobwhite. Four of these—the goshawk, Cooper hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, and great-horned owl— are very destructive to poultry as well as game. Dr. W. C. Strode, of Bernadotte, Ill., writes that bobwhite’s worst enemy is the Cooper hawk. “A few days ago one flew up from the roadside when I was passing, and a bobwhite was dangling from one foot.” During November, 1900, this species so persecuted the birds at Marshall Hall that they were seldom found far from cover. In one instance a hawk was seen to swoop to the ground and rise with a cock bobwhite. The other species of hawks and owls rarely molest quail. If bobwhites more frequently nested along fence rows instead of in open mowing land, they would abound in many places where they are rare. The mowing machine lays many nests bare, and they are either despoiled by enemies or deserted by the old birds. At Sandy Spring, Md., early in July, 1903, four nests with their eggs were cut over in a 50-acre grass lot. In other hay fields several nests were dis- covered in time to leave grass uncut about them, but boys robbed them all. Between such lads and the crows and other enemies bob- whites have a hard time in certain sections. To enable them to withstand the winter, bobwhites need suitable PRESERVATION AND PROPAGATION. 23 food and cover. In severe winters coveys are sometimes saved by being trapped and fed in confinement until spring. Naturally the birds suffer most in the northern’ part of their range, but there are reports of their death from severe-and protracted cold in Maryland and Virginia. Sandys says: “ The birds know when the snow is coming, and they creep under the brush, intending to remain there until the weather has cleared. * * * Then the rain comes and wets the surface all about, then the sleet stiffens it, * * * the cold becomes intense, and every foot of damp snow promptly hardens into solid ice. * * * The quail are now imprisoned beneath a dome of crystal, which may endure for days.”* H. C. Oberholser says that in severe winters in Wayne County, Ohio, whole coveys are found dead from this cause. Dr. P. L. Hatch reports that in Minnesota the birds increase in numbers during years with mild win- ters and decrease when the winter is exceptionally severe.2 Wilson Flagg states in Birds and Seasons of New England that thousands of bobwhites were destroyed by the deep snows of 1856-57. During the very severe winter of 1903-4 bobwhites were nearly exterminated in portions of Massachusetts. That quail do not always succumb to exceptional cold appears from the fact that in Susquehanna County, Pa., at an altitude of 2,000 feet, W. W. Cooke found a covey of a dozen bobwhites apparently in the best of condition on December 9, 1902. though a foot of snow covered the ground and the thermometer stood at 20° below zero. : | A study of the winter habits of the bobwhite by the writer in the vicinity of Washington, D. C., so far has yielded only fragmentary results. In February, 1900, after a foot of snow had fallen, in a care- ful two days’ search he failed to discover even a track of a large covey that usually frequented river flats along the Potomac at Mar- shall Hall. The birds must have been under the snow or back in the timber. At Falls Church, Va., after a lighter fall of snow he saw a covey of five moving among briers on the edge of a wood, and their fresh tracks showed that they had been feeding systematically on rose hips, but had not ventured from cover. At Cabin John Bridge, Md., after a snowfall of several inches his dog pointed six birds on the south side of a river bluff, where the sun had melted holes in the snow. On one of these bare spots he saw two birds, which rose and were joined by four others. The covey had made wallows 2 inches deep in the leaf mold on the bare spots. All the birds had avoided stepping on the snow. At hand was such food as the berries of sumac and the seeds of Galactia volubilis and Chamechrista fascicularis. Examination of the droppings indicated that less than a@Upland Game Birds, p. 70, 1902. » Notes on the Birds of Minnesota, p. 155, 1892, 5112—No. 21—05 m——4 24 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. one-tenth of the food had been animal matter, the remains of which consisted of ants, the tibie of grasshoppers, the spotted cuticle of sol- dier bugs, and the cow-horn-like mandibles of spiders. So far as could be made out, the remains of vegetable food consisted of the skin of kernels of corn, fragments of the akenes of ragweed, and pulverized bits of sumac seeds: (Rhus copallina), partridge pea (Chamechrista fascicularis), milk pea (Galactia volubilis), and crownbeard (Ver- besina), besides unidentified leaf material. The weather had been severe for more than a week, but the birds were in good condition. On the Marshall Hall farm, a short distance back from the banks of the Potomac, is a swamp that has a steep bank with a southern exposure where there is usually more or less bare ground in patches. For several years bobwhites have made a winter haunt of this warm, sunny bank, and here some interesting observations were made Feb- ruary 18 and 19, 1902, when the snow was from 2 to 4 inches deep and the minimum temperature was 4° F. above zero. A covey had spent the night of February 17 not on the warm bank, comparatively bare of snow, but on the level above the bank, where they had squatted on the snow under a dewberry bush among broomsedge. Their feet and droppings had melted the snow, and subsequent freezing had formed an icy ring. The birds had not flown thither, but had walked from the swamp up the steep bank and through the broomsedge level. The next morning they had flown from the roost to the steep slope, had run along the edge of the swamp to a bushy, tree-bordered stream, then up its north bank for 300 yards and back on the south bank, and thence to the steep, sunny slope again. On their journey they had gone under every matted tangle of cat-brier vines—possibly for berries, but more probably for protection. At one point they had fed freely on sumac berries. The tracks of a fox were found with those of the birds for about 100 yards. On the morning of the 19th they traveled not more than 200 yards, this chiefly among outstanding willows and alders of the swamp and along the belt of land 5 to 20 yards wide between the boundary fence and the reeds of the swamp. In one place two pairs of birds had walked so near together as to cross one another’s- tracks; two single birds had made clear lines of tracks on one side of them, and a single bird had walked alone on the other side from 1 to 4 feet from his nearest companion. All had evidently eaten rose hips, mutilated remains of which still clung to the bushes. The covey might have been expected to range far and wide in the open fields for seeds and even to straw ricks for grain, but except when traveling to their roost they had never gone more than a rod from cover. Apparently fear of enemies restrained them. An article in the American Field, February 25, 1899, by the well- known sportsman John Bolus, of Wooster, Ohio, illustrates the hardi- PRESERVATION AND PROPAGATION. 25 ness of the bobwhite. When several inches of snow were on the ground and the thermometer registered from 15 to 27 degrees below zero every night for a week, Mr. Bolus took a tramp to see how the birds had fared. He found no dead birds, but saw six thrifty coveys—S81 birds in all. They were feeding on ragweed projecting from the snow, and were Jumping up to reach seeds on sprays above their heads. Some coveys remained under shelter of little weed patches, but others ranged over the more open fields. In Maryland and Virginia large landowners often feed their birds in severe weather. Wheat and corn are the best food, and should be scattered, if possible, among the briers where the birds are safe from hawks. Bobwhites have been known to feed with chickens in barn- yards. By a little forethought landowners and sportsmen can easily make winter provision for their birds. Sumac bushes should be left along hedgerows and the edge of woodland to furnish food that is always above the snow and lasts well into spring. Twelve bobwhites collected in December in North Dakota had made nine- tenths of their food of sumac, having eaten from 50 to 300 berries each. A similar use, in coast regions, of the bayberry and wax myrtle has been noted. Their berries, as well as those of sumac, last till May, and the plants should always be spared by everyone who is interested in the welfare of the bobwhite. Smilax, affording little food but fine cover, and wild roses, giving both food and cover, are also valuable. Blackberry thickets, young pine woods, laurel, and holly furnish safe retreats frem enemies. The farmer can well afford to feed the bobwhite in winter, but he can not afford to spend as much time and money as the owner of game preserves, and for the latter class further suggestions may be helpful. In the Eastern and Southern States land that will not grow profitable crops may be used for the game preserve, provided it has water and. bushy coverts. The use of the mowing machine, so destructive to eggs and young birds, should be avoided when possible during the breeding season. Wheat for the birds should be sown in long strips not over 50 yards wide. The best of the grain may be harvested and the rest left standing. On the stubble a luxuriant growth of ragweed will generally spring up—a perfect food supply. except that it does not last till spring: hence the need of sumac or bayberry. In regions too dry for ragweed to grow in the stubble, sunflowers are an excellent substitute. Sorghum, millet (Chetochloa), and possibly panicum may be planted and left standing. Pop corn will be found particu- larly valuable, as large corn can not easily be swallowed by the younger birds. Buckwheat, and in the South the nutritious cowpea, and the climbing false buckwheat, the thick tangles of which also afford good cover, bear excellent food. Other plants of the genus 26 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. Polygonum ave fond of moist land, and furnish palatable seeds for the bobwhite; for instance, black bindweed (Polygonum convolvu- lus), Pennsylvania persicaria (Persicaria pennsylvanicum), and black heart (Persicaria lapathifolia). All wild leguminous plants should be left undisturbed, for the birds feed on seeds of most of our legumes. Small clumps of locusts may well be left in open fields to give both food and cover. Tick trefoil, bush clover, Japan clover, the milkpea, and the wild bean—all wild plants—are suitable for tood. Of the summer fruits the dewberry is the most important, and in the absence of water furnishes a substitute; therefore these vines, nearly everywhere plentiful, should be left in places remote from water. A water supply is of course important. Streams with bush- grown banks through open fields are most valuable. Beside them will be found spreading panicum (Panicum proliferum), which shells cut its grain a kernel or two at a time until well into spring. Birds find food, shade, water, and shelter in the vegetation along small streams. Marshes also afford cover and food. If connected with estuaries they often support a rank growth of wild rice, an ideal provision for birds. Sufficient shelter to protect the birds from hawks is almost indispensable. Oak and beech woods supply mast as_ well as shelter, but pines afford the best cover, and some of them, notably the longleaf pine, furnish food. A comfortable retreat for the coldest weather is invaluable. In Maryland and Virginia fields of heavy broomsedge answer this purpose well, but best of all is a steep bank with southern exposure, where the sun quickly melts the show, and gives the birds a chance to forage on bare spots for food and gravel. If such a bank is not far from cover, and has a growth of briers on it to give the birds a feeling of security, 1t will become a favorite winter haunt and during severe weather is the best place to scatter grain. With a httle help from man the bobwhite will be found to winter well even in the northern part of its range. 3obwhite is prolific. A pair of birds under favorable conditions will raise a dozen young in a season. Then, too, it is long lived, tor a bird kept in captivity is known to have reached the age of 9 years.1 The outlook for the future of the species is most satisfactory, pro- vided it is given even a small amount of care, with proper legal pro- tection. The Audubon societies, with a membership of 65,000 to 70,000, which cherish the bobwhite for esthetic and humanitarian rea- sons, the sportsman who loves the whirr of its brown wings, and the farmer, whose enemies it destroys and whose resources it increases, can do much to favor the bird in its natural environment and to pro- tect it by adequate and effectively enforced laws. @ Forest-and Stream, VIL, p. 407, 1876, FOOD HABITS. pee : FOOD HABITS OF BOBWHIITE: Both field and laboratory investigations of the food habits of the bobwhite have been conducted by the Biological Survey. The field work was confined chiefly to Maryland and Virginia, and, although it represents in some degree every month in the year, has been limited mainly to the breeding and the hunting seasons. The laboratory work to determine the different kinds of food and their proportions has included examination of the contents of crops and gizzards from 918 birds. This material was collected from 21 States, Canada, the District of Columbia, and Mexico, but chiefly from New York, Mary- jand, Virginia, Florida, Illinois, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas. Stomachs were obtained each month of the year, but un- fortunately few were collected in the breeding season. Laboratory work included also feeding experiments with three pairs of captive bobwhites obtained from Kansas. The bird’s digestive organs are well adapted to the character of its diet. The stomach, or gizzard, as it is commonly called, is provided with powerful muscles for grinding the hard seeds on which the bird largely subsists. The crop, a sac like enlargement of the cesophagus. is a mere membranous receptacle for first receiving the food, and is without muscles. Its capacity is usually from four to six times that of the stomach. The bobwhite is insectivorous as well as graminivorous. It is, in fact, one of our most nearly omnivorous species. In addition to seeds, fruit, leaves, buds, tubers, and insects, it has been known to eat spiders, myriapods, crustaceans, mollusks, and even batrachians. The food for the year as a whole, calculated by volume and deter- mined by analysis of the contents of 918 stomachs, consisted of vege- table matter, 83.59 per cent, and animal matter, 16.41 per cent. In addition, there was mineral matter varying in amount from 1 to 5 per cent of the gross contents of the stomachs, and in exceptional cases rising to 30 per cent. This usually consisted of sand, with coarser bits of quartz 2 to 7 mm. in diameter, which were taken to pulverize the food and thus render it easier of assimilation. The vegetable part of the food consisted of grain, 17.38 per cent; various seeds, chiefly weeds, 52.83 per cent; fruit, 9.57 per cent, and miscellaneous vegetable matter, 3.81 per cent. The animal matter in the food was distributed as follows: Beetles, 6.92 per cent; grass- hoppers, 3.71 per cent; bugs, 2.77 per cent: caterpillars, 0.95 per cent; miscellaneous insects, 0.70 per cent; and other invertebrates, largely spiders, 1.36 per cent. : The insect food of bobwhite, in comparison with that of other birds, is interesting. It includes fewer caterpillars, ants, and other Hymenoptera, but more bugs; and, singularly enough in a terrestrial 98 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. feeder, nearly twice as large a proportion of beetles as of erass- hoppers. The meadow lark, per contra, another terrestrial feeder, takes 29 per cent of grasshoppers and only 18 per cent of beetles. The food of the bobwhite for the year is noteworthy in several respects. Its character varies with the season. From October to ‘March it consists almost exclusively of vegetable matter—for Febru- ary and March 99.8 per cent of vegetable food appearing in analysis— while in late spring and in summer it is made up largely of insects, August showing 44.1 per cent of insect food. The grain taken, as a rule, is derived neither from newly sown fields nor from standing crops, but is gleaned from stubble fields after harvest. Grain forms a less prominent part of the food than the seeds of weeds, which are the most important element of all and make up one-half of the food for the year. The most distinctive feature of this, as a whole, is the large proportion—15.52 per cent—of leguminous seeds, a food seldom eaten by the various species of sparrows or other terrestrial feeders. A small fraction of this seed comes from cultivated plants, especially the cowpea; the rest is derived from wild plants, most of them classed as weeds. Leguminous seeds appear to be most largely con- sumed during December, when they form 25 per cent of the tood. The 15.05 per cent of insect food, although a comparatively small part of the total, is of extreme importance, since it contains many pests that are generally avoided by nongallinaceous birds. Note- worthy among these are the potato beetle, twelve-spotted cucumber beetle, striped cucumber beetle, squash ladybird beetle, various cut- worms, the tobacco worm, army worm, cotton worm, cotton bollworm, the clover weevil, cotton boll weevil, imbricated snout beetle, May beetle, click beetle, the red-legged grasshopper, Rocky Mountain locust, and chinch bug. It should be observed that in the search for these pests and for weed seeds the bobwhite, unlike many birds of the woodland, hedge- row, and orchard, extends its foraging to the center of the largest fields, thus protecting the growing crops. GRAIN AS Foon. Vegetable matter has long been known to be an important element of the food of the bobwhite; indeed, many people suppose that it constitutes the entire food of the bird. The impression that the bob- white eats little else than grain has prevailed even among many sportsmen who have bagged most of their game in the stubble field. The present analysis, however, discloses that grain forms scarcely more than one-sixth of the food. Laboratory study shows that it is eaten in every month of the year, the maximum amount, 46 per cent of the food for the month, having been taken in March. In the FOOD HABITS. 99 specimens examined corn amounts to 11.96 per cent of the total food for the year, while all other kinds of grain collectively amount to only 5.42 per cent. Wheat (4.17_per cent) is next to corn in i1m- portance. As experiments with captive birds failed to show marked preference for either corn or wheat, the disproportion between the two above noted is probably due to the fact that more corn than wheat is grown in the country where our birds were obtained. The remaining cereal food (1.25 per cent of the total) is miscellaneous grain, including Kafir corn, sorghum, millet, buckwheat, barley, oats, and rye. Grain-eating birds are likely to do much harm to crops. They may pull up sprouting grain, plunder the standing crop when it is in the milk, or forage among the sheaves at harvest time. The bobwhite, however, is a notable exception. The period of germination is the time when grain is liable to serious injury by birds. But not a-sin- gle sprouting kernel was found in the crops and stomachs of quails examined. Field observations, during the years 1899 and 1900, at Marshall Hall gave similar evidence. While crows injured sprout- ing corn so seriously during May that several extensive replantings were necessary, bobwhites, unusually abundant in the vicinity at the same time, were never seen to disturb the germinating grain. During November, 1899, sprouting wheat was saved from crow blackbirds only by diligent use of the shotgun; but both then and im other sea- sons the bobwhite was rarely observed in winter-wheat fields and never was seen to molest the crop. Sprouting oats apparently were not molested, though extended observations were not made. No data are available for rye and millet, but in newly sown buckwheat fields in Essex County, N. J., which the writer saw ravaged by doves, there was no sign of injury by the bobwhites. Publications on economic ornithology and reports received by the Biological Survey add _ tes- timony of lke character. It may sately be stated, therefore, that so far as at present known the bobwhite does no appreciable harm to sprouting grain. In order to learn to what extent the species injures ripening grain, observations were made for several years at Marshall Hall. Unlike the crow and several kinds of blackbirds, the bobwhite did no damage there to corn in the milk, nor did it injure ripening wheat and oats. Flocks of English sparrows, however, might be seen feeding on wheat in the milk, and not uncommonly a score of goldfinches swayed on the panicles of ripening oats. A hen bobwhite shot in a field of ripe wheat, June 18, 1903, had much of the grain in its crop, though whether obtained from standing heads or from fallen kernels did not appear. As the bobwhite usually feeds on the ground, and as it was never seen feeding from the stalk at Marshall Hall, it appears prob- able that it seeks only the fallen grain, At wheat harvest it follows 30 ' BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. the binder, and at Marshall Hall was often seen in the harvest field picking up scattered wheat. It was not observed there on the shocks, appearing to find an abundance of waste kernels. At corn harvest also bobwhite takes its share from exposed ears; but the bird is not able to shuck corn, as do the crow and the wild goose. Several crops of ripe oats at Marshall Hall were watched during harvest time and furnished no evidence against the bobwhite. No report of injury by it elsewhere at harvest time has come to the Biological Survey, though damage may be done where peculiar local conditions conjoin with an overabundance of birds. The bobwhite, however, is a persistent stubble feeder. As Mr. Sandys puts it, “ He is the gleaner who never reaps, who guards the growing crops, who glories over a bounteous yield, yet is content to watch and wait for those lost grains which fall to him by right.” Where fields of wheat stubble support a rank growth of ragweed the sportsman is most likely to find a feeding covey. At Marshall Hall, during September, October, and November, such fields are the favorite haunts of the birds. On this farm corn has a greater acreage than wheat, but the birds are much less often found in corn stubble; and, as stomach examinations show, they eat much less corn than wheat. Since experiments with captive birds showed no preference for wheat, food other than grain may have kept them on the wheat stubble. Along the Roanoke in Virginia, where wheat is not grown, bobwhites feed in corn fields. On the Western prairies, where cornstalks left standing in the fields afford good cover, the birds are more often found in cornfields. Six birds collected from such fields in November, 1891, at Badger, Nebr., contained 181 whole kernels of corn; the smallest number in a crop was 20 and the largest 48. 3 It is not unusual to find from 100 to 200 grains of wheat in a crop. A bobwhite shot at West Appomattox, Va., in December, 1902, had its crop distended almost to bursting with 508 grains of wheat. This habit of gleaning waste grain after harvest is beneficial to the farm, for volunteer grain is not desirable, especially where certain insect pests or parasitic fungi are to be combated. As the scattered kernels are often too far. afield to be gathered by domestic poultry, the serv- ices of the bobwhite in this respect are especially useful. The bobwhite sometimes eats the seeds of certain cultivated legu- minous plants. Both the black-eye and the clay cowpeas (Vignu sinen- sis) have been found in stomachs, and one contained 35 peas of the lat- ter variety. In Westmoreland and Mecklenburg counties, Va., cowpea patches are favorite resorts for the birds in November and December. Garden peas were found in crops collected by Mr. Walter Hoxie at Frogmore, 5. C. In rare instances the bobwhite picks up clover FOOD HABITS. ak seeds, and it has been known to eat a lima bean. It may take also Kafir corn and sorghum, and it has a decided liking for millet (Chetochloa italica), a taste particularly noticeable in birds of Kan- sas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. A crop from Onaga, Kans., con- tained 1,000 millet seeds. No significant damage to millet has been reported and the birds may secure most of this food from stubble fields. WEED SEEDS AS Foop. Weeds appropriate the space, light, water, and food of the plants that directly or indirectly support man. A million weeds may spring up on a single acre, and a single plant of one of these species may mature 100,000 seeds in a season. This process, if unchecked, may produce in the spring of the third year 10,000,000,000 weeds. The problem of weed déstruction is perennial in every land; indeed, soil culture may be called a never ceasing war against weeds. Of the birds that aid the farmer in this strug- gle the bobwhite, the native sparrows, and the mourning dove are the most . 4, efficient. They attack weeds at that 0 vital stage—the seed period—hence & J their work, especially against the an- ¢ e nuals which depend on seeds for per- 8 petuation, is of enormous practical value. Fic. 1.—Seed of witch grass (Panicum The bobwhite is preeminently a capillare). (From Bull. 38, Nevada secdeeacit 52.83 percent of its food) . Ribgrass (Plantago lanceolata). Button weed (Diodia teres). Trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans). Orange hawkweed (Hieracium dauran- tiacuim). Marsh elder (/va@ ciliata). Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida). Ragweed (Anibrosia artemisiefolia). Everlasting (Anfennaria sp.). Sunflower (Helianthus sp.). Common sunflower (Helianthus NUUS). Crownbeard (Verbesina sp.). Beggar ticks (Bidens sp.). ar- @ii- SEEDS AS FOoop. of the swamp oak (Quercus palustris), the the blue beech (Carpinus carolini- ana), and the chestnut, amounts to 2.47 per cent of the food of the year. In the pine lands of Florida the bobwhite freely eats the seeds of the long-leaf pine (Pinus palustris). Of the 39 birds from Walton County (November, December, and January, 1902 and 1903), 21 had their crops and stomachs mainly filled with this nutritious food. They had usually clipped off the wings of the samaras close to the large seeds. Several crops were full of germinating pine seeds, some of the embryos having cotyledons 2 inches long. In the region about Washington the seeds of the scrub pine (Pinus virginiana) also are eaten to a small extent. The fact that these seeds are a good winter food should be remembered by holders of game preserves. Obserya- tions show that the key seeds of the maple also are eaten, though much less extensively. FRvuIT Aas Foon. ) Unlike the catbird and the cedarbird, whose food consists, respec- tively, of 50 and 87 per cent of fruit, the food of bobwhite for the year includes only 9.57 per cent of fruit. It is least frugivorous In spring and most so in June and in December and January, taking 20.1 per cent in the summer month and a little over 15 per cent during the two winter months. If more birds collected in June had been S 36 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. available for examination, probably thé percentage of fruit would have been lower. The December percentage is evidently character-. istic, for it was based on the examination of about 200 stomachs. In early spring wild winter-cured berries, in May strawberries, later the Rubus fruits—thimbleberry, dewberry, and highbush black- berry—and in late summer and autumn an endless profusion of the’ vear’s wild harvest yield the bobwhite an accessible and abundant iood supply. In late fall and winter, when snow covers the seeds, - fruit doubtless keeps it from starving. In December it forms nearly one-fifth of the food for the month. Sumac, wax-myrtle, rose, and bayberry are the main winter supply. Poison-ivy berries are eaten occasionally. Rose hips often project from the snow and furnish timely food.. At Falls Church, Va., and at Cabin John Bridge and Marshall Hall, Md., tracks of coveys in deep snow led up to rose shoots to which partly eaten hips were clinging. Sumac and other plants of the genus Rhus form 1.60 per cent of the annual food, and during December the proportion of Rhus alone is 10.50 per cent. Of 12 birds shot during December at Porters Landing, S. Dak., near the bobwhite’s northern limit, by W. C. Colt, each had eaten from 100 to 300 of the carmine sumac berries, and altogether the sumac had furnished 90 per cent of the food they contained. Bayberry and wax-myrtle are as important along the coast as sumacs are inland. Berries of wax-myrtle were found in the stomachs of 15 out of 39 birds collected during November, December, and January, 1902 and 1903, in Walton County, Fla. One hundred and twenty bayberries had been eaten by one bird taken in July, 1901, at Shelter Island, N. Y. Both these fruits last through the winter and well into May, affording excellent provision just when it is most needed. In spite of its frugivorous tastes and constant association with orchard crops, the bobwhite is not often known to injure cultivated fruits. M. B. Waite reports that near Odenton, Md., it sometimes picks ripening strawberries. Yet birds that were kept in captivity several months refused strawberries when they were hungry. Cul- tivated cherries were found in a few stomachs, but the bobwhite is not an arboreal feeder and does not damage this crop. During June at Marshall Hall it was repeatedly observed feeding greedily upon the fruit of running dewberry vines. It probably does no serious harm, however, to cultivated bush varieties of Rubus, such as the thimbleberry, the raspberry, and the blackberry. It is fond of wild grapes, and a number of crops each contained as many as 25 frost erapes (Vitis cordifolia). THence it might be expected to injure cultivated varieties, for its relative, the California quail, sometimes plunders vineyards; but, so far as the writer knows, vineyards in the East have sustained no appreciable damage from the bobwhite. In summing up the frugivorous habits of the bobwhite, it may be FOOD HABITS. Bil said that the present investigation shows no appreciable injury to cultivated fruit, but a marked liking for wild fruit. It may be interesting to note, also, that the bobwhite is not nearly so frugiv- orous as the ruffed grouse. LIST OF FRUITS EATEN. Although the percentage of wild fruits yearly consumed is compar- atively small, the variety is great, as shown by the appended list, which includes only those actually ascertained to have been eaten. A few careful observers could easily double the number. Cabbage palmetto (/nodes palmetto). Smooth scarlet sumac (Rhus glabra). Saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata). Holly (/lex opaca). Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum). Black alder (/lex verticillata). Greenbrier (Smilar sp.). Climbing bittersweet (Celastrus scan- Wax mnyrtle (J/yrica cerifera). dens). Bayberry (Jlyrica carolinensis). Frost grape (Vitis cordifolia). Mulberry (J/orus rubra). Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras). Sour gum (Vyssa sylvatica). Thimbleberry (Rubus occidentalis). Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). High bush blackberry (Rubus nigro- Uuckleberry (Gaylussacia sp.). baccus). Blueberry (Vaccinium sp.). Dewberry (Rubus proewnbens). Ground-cherry (Physalis pubescens). Strawberry (Fragaria sp.). Nightshade (Solanum nigrum). Rose (Rosa). Elder (Sambucus canadensis ). Haw (Crataegus sp.). Black haw (Viburnum prunifolium). Apple (Jlalus malus). Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.). Cultivated cherry (Prunus sp.). Partridge berry (JJitchella repens). Wild cherry (Prunus serotina). Sarsaparilla (Aralia). Poison ivy (Rhus radicans). Woodbine (Parthenocissus quinquefo- Dwarf sumac (Rhus copallina). lia). Staghorn sumac (Rhus hirta). LEAVES AND BUDS AS Foon. The bobwhite does not approach the ruffed grouse in destructive- ness to leaves, buds, and tender shoots, though occasionally it samples them. It eats the leaves of sorrel sometimes, both yellow sorrel (Oxalis stricta) and red sorrel (Rumex acetosella). It has been known to take the leaves of cinquefoil (Potentil/a), and is extremely fond of both red and white clover. Captive birds ate grass, lettuce, and chickweed. INSECTS AS Foop. Notwithstanding statements to the contrary, published and unpub- lished, the bobwhite eats insects in every month of the year. They form 15.05 per cent of its entire food for the year. From June to August, inclusive, when insects are most numerous, their proportion in the food is 35.97 per cent. The variety of insect food is large. 38 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. In the present investigation 116 species have been noted, and further study will doubtless greatly increase the number. Moreover, the — large proportion of injurious insects habitually eaten renders the services of this bird more valuable than those of many birds whose percentage of insect food, though greater, includes a smaller propor- tion of injurious species. Conspicuous among the pests destroyed | are the Colorado potato beetle, twelve-spotted cucumber beetle, bean leaf-beetle, squash ladybird, wireworms and their beetle, and May ~ beetles. Its food also includes such weevils as corn billbugs, imbri- cated snout beetle, clover leaf weevil, cotton boll weevil; also the striped garden caterpillar, army worm, cotton bollworm, and: various species of cutworms; also the corn-louse ants, red-legged grasshopper, Rocky Mountain locust, and chinch bug. The bobwhite does not merely sample these species, as do many other birds; it eats some of them in considerable numbers, for crops examined have contained, respectively, a dozen cutworms, an equal number of army worms, 30 Rocky Mountain locusts, and 47 cotton boll weevils. This bird also destroys striped cucumber beetles by the score, potato beetles by the hundred, and chinch bugs in great numbers. From June to August, inclusive, insects and their alhes form, as previously men- tioned, about a third of the food. Of this beetles make up nearly half, or 15.37 per cent; bugs, 8.54 per cent; caterpillars, 1.37 per cent; grasshoppers, 6.93 per cent; miscellaneous insects, 1.33 per cent, and spiders, with other invertebrates, 2.43 per cent. . BEETLES EATEN. The beetles most largely destroyed are ground beetles, leaf-eating beetles, and weevils. Naturally, because of the terrestrial habits of the bobwhite, ground beetles, in spite of their vile odor and irritating secretions, are picked up oftener than the other kinds. Experiments with caged birds prove that even the most pungent forms are relished. Ground beetles are numerous in species and superabundant in indi- viduals. One can form no adequate idea of their numbers except at night. Are lights kill them by thousands. The writer has known one species (Harpalus pennsylvanicus) to enter open windows in the evening in swarms. They have an irritating secretion, which if applied to the skin soon raises a blister. Ground beetles are more or less predaceous, hence the whole family was formerly considered beneficial. Later study has resulted in their division into three classes: The most carnivorous species, possessing sharp, curved jaws for capturing and killing other insects; the least predaceous forms, having blunt jaws and eating considerable vegetable matter: and a class intermediate between these two. The first class contains highly beneficial beetles which destroy great numbers of insect pests, while the blunt-jawed class includes some injurious species that feed on FOOD HABITS. 39 crops. Only a few of the bobwhite stomachs examined contained the useful sharp-jawed beetles, but many contained the blunt-jawed species, especially such forms as Amara sp., Agonoderus pallipes, Anisodactylus baltimorensis, Anisodactylus rusticus, Harpalus penn- sylvanicus, and Harpalus caliginosus. At Marshall Hall, in August, 1902, a covey of bobwhites was seen greedily eating beetles of the two species of Harpalus named above, which were numerous in wheat stubble overgrown by ragweed. The meadow lark, also, was feeding on them. The liking of the bobwhite for Harpalus pennsylvanicus was further proved by experiments with caged birds. It eats also the larve of these beetles, as do the robin and several other birds. Though the genus Harpalus as a whole is useful, destruction of these two species is not amiss, for they injure ripening strawberries by eating out the seeds. Through their depredations on a quarter-acre patch a grower at Leesburg, Va., in three nights lost $350 worth of fruit. The nature of the injury by the beetle has so far made reme- dial measures impracticable: therefore, the work of the bobwhite and other birds should be estimated at,its full value. Leaf-eating beetles, next in importance after ground beetles in the diet of the bobwhite, include many of the worst beetle pests, and members of the family not already actively injurious are potentially so. These beetles also are provided with protective secretions, more effectively repellant in the larger species, at least, than those of ground beetles, but luckily imeffectual against bobwhite. He eats the most injurious of these insects, such as the potato beetle (Leptz- notarsa decemlineata), the striped cucumber beetle (Diabrotica vit- tata), the twelve-spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica 12-punctata), and the squash ladybird (£'pilachna borealis). The first nained is perhaps more correctly termed the Colorado potato beetle. It was a native of the Rocky Mountains originally, feeding on the horse- nettle (Solanum rostratum),a plant related to the potato. It began to migrate eastward a year or two before the civil war. and fifteen or sixteen years later reached the Atlantic coast. Since then, as every one knows, this beetle has threatened the potato crop of the country. Birds as a rule avoid it because of its secretions. There- fore the bobwhite’s services in destroying it should be highly valued, the more so because the bird’s habit of eating the potato bug is not merely occasional nor lmited to special localities. Records have come to the Biological Survey trom New Jersey, Virginia, Mary- land, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and Ontario: and it is believed that more extended observations will show that the habit is general wherever the birds and the beetles inhabit the same district. During the last week of June, at Marshall Hall, a pair of birds was observed patroling rows of badlv infested potato vines and diligently picking off the beetles. Writing of the bird’s relation to this insect, C. E. 46 BOBWHITE AND OTHER OUAILS OF UNITED STATES, Romaine; of Crockett, Tex., says: “ Quail have built their iests. around my fence and éveh in my garden, within 50 feet of my house. They have kept iny potato patch entitely free fiom the Colorado potato bug.” Three captive bobwhites dispatched 50 potato beetles in five minutes, swallowing them whole, apparently with great zest. No food offered them was eaten with more avidity. Thomas MclIl- wraith says a recent writer mentions that he examined the crop of- one which was killed as it rose from a potato patch and found that it contained 75 potato bugs.¢. Lawrence Bruner reports 101 of these beetles found in a single crop.” Such wholesale destruction of these pests throughout a large territory is an invaluable aid to agriculture. The two species of cucumber beetles (Diabrotica vittata and D. 12-punctata) are highly injurious to cucumbers, squashes, melons, and corn, much of the harm being caused by their larvee, which feed on the roots of infested crops and are difficult to combat successfully with insecticides. The bobwhite eats them freely without ill effect, though examination seldom reveals them in the stomachs of other birds. Indeed, captive birds. of all the other species experimented with have refused them, probably because of their offensive secre- tions. To some extent the bobwhite feeds also on certain leaf beetles, known, from their jumping powers, as flea beetles. Its favorites appear to be the three-lined potato beetle (Lema trilineata), some- times an ally of the potato beetle in the potato patch, @dionychus fimbriata, and several members of the genus Disonycha. The golden tortoise beetle (Coptocycla bicolor), an insect that looks like a drop of molten gold and is an enemy of the sweet potato, is also eaten. The locust leaf-mining beetle (Odontota dorsalis) is another victim of the bird. Its larve tunnel between the surfaces of locust leaves and kill the foliage. In 1895 the ravages of this pest turned the locust-fringed bluffs on the Potomac below Washington as brown as if touched by fire. The agriculturist finds weevils hard to cope with, on account of their small size, protective coloration, and retiring mode of life. Birds, however, destroy them in large numbers, often a score or two ut a meal, and bobwhite does his share of the work. He often eats two common species that feed on clover leaves (Sitones hispidulus and Phytonomus punctatus), and preys also on the two billbugs (Sphenophorus parvulus and Sphenophorus zew), the latter injurious to corn. He relishes also that notorious garden pest, the imbricated snout beetle. His most important weevil prey is the Mexican cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis). In 1894 this insect first crossed the Mexican border into Texas. During 1903 it caused a loss of 2 Birds of Ontario, p. 170, 1894. b Notes on Nebraska Birds, p. 80, 1896. FOOD HABITS: 41 $15,000,000. Though still chiefly confined to Texas, in time it will undoubtedly occupy the whole cotton belt and do a tremendous amount of harm. The bobwhite is fond of this pest: F. M: Howaitd, of Beeville, Tex., in writing to the Bureau of Entomology. says that the crops of bobwhites shot at Beeville, Tex., were filled with these weevils.*. H. G. Wood, of Cuero, Tex., in a letter dated September 21, 1901, relating to the weevil scourge, says: Several of our business men and farmers are of the opinion that the quail can be made a vehicle for the destruction of the cotton boll weevil. One farmer reports his cotton fields full of quail, and the entire absence of weevils. He found 47 weevils in the craw of one bird. * * * JI claim quail are the greatest insect destroyers of all birds. * * * We propose to prohibit the killing of quail in this county this season, hoping thereby to save a great por- tion of the cotton crop next season. The click beetles, the larve of which are the wireworms so inim- ical to corn and other plants of the grass family; scarabeid beetles, though in smaller numbers; dung beetles, when numerous, and May beetles, parents of the injurious white grub, are eaten by the bobwhite. The May beetle (Zachnosterna sp.) and its near relative, Ligyrus gib- bosus, were eagerly eaten by captive birds. The useful ladybirds (Coccinellidw) are sometimes found in the bird’s crop, but, judging from experiments with caged birds, do not appear to be highly rel- ished. to germinating grain. Two quail shot by Walter E. Bryant on a newly-sown grain field had eaten, respectively, 185 kernels and 210 kernels of barley.” Barley is important in California, where it is grown for hay, for grain feed, and for beer making. There is, how- ever, much volunteer barley, which many species of birds feed on and thus do good rather than harm. It is probable that quail do little or no harm to barley at harvest time, and the waste grain that they subsequently gather in stubble fields has no positive value. Of the yearly food of the 601 quail examined 6.18 per cent was grain, divided as follows: Barley, 4.58 per cent; wheat, 0.44 per cent: corn and oats, 1.16 per cent. a Zoe, IV, p. 56, 1893, b Zoe. LV. p. 55, 1893. 59 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. LEAVES. In its habit of feeding on foliage the California quail differs from the bobwhite and resembles the ruffed grouse. Such food forms 22.73 per cent of the vegetable matter eaten. In February, when the bob- white is weathering blizzards, the California quail is enjoying balmy weather and feeding or browse to the extent of 80 per cent of its food. | Most of this browse consists of leaves of leguminous plants, princi- pally clovers. Bur clover (J/edicago denticulata), a weed that grows in cultivated land and along irrigation ditches, appears to sup- ply most of the forage. Alfalfa and clovers of the genus alfalfa form most of the remaining leguminous green food. Next to legumes the finely divided leaves of alfilaria, or ‘ filaree’ (Hvrodium), are im- portant. Grass, chickweed (Alsine media), the leaves of fern, geranium, oxalis, and groundsel-bush (Baccharis) also furnish forage for the quail. W. W. Cooke reports that near Grand Junction, Colo., where the California coast quail has been introduced and thrives wonderfully, market gardeners regard it as a nuisance. WEED SEEDS. Different seeds, largely of weeds, furnish the California quail 59.77 per cent of its year’s diet. Legumes contribute 17.87 per cent; alfi- laria, 13.38 per cent; composite, 5.55 per cent; the spurge family (Buphorbiacew), 5.85 per cent, and miscellaneous plants 17.12 per cent. Leguminous seeds are hked best by the bird, and make up 17.87 per cent of the seed diet for the year and 46.1 per cent of its food for June. Bur clover yields abundance of seeds as well as forage. Its seed pod is pecuhar, much elongated, beset with. long, sharp spines, and spirally coiled into a roundish bur. The quail swallows it whole, regardless of spines. This food is highly nutri- tious and is relished by stock as well as by birds and wild mammals. Seeds of closely allied plants, such as alfalfa, vetch, cassias, culti- vated beans and peas, and clovers of the genera 7'rifolium, Lespedeza, and JZelilotus also are in the quail’s list, as well as of locust (2?obinia) and lupines, the latter taken in large quantities. They include the seeds of Lupinus nanus, L. micranthus, and L. sparsiflorus. Other leguminous seeds are eaten in great numbers, including a small bean- like seed, Lotus glaberv, which looks much lke a miniature Frankfurt sausage, and an unidentified, almost microscopic square seed, with a notch in its edge, possibly some species of birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus). Nearly all of the leguminous plants that furnish the quail with seeds belong in the category of weeds. Seeds of weeds from other families of plants make up no less than a Birds of Colorado, App. 2, p. 202, 1900, FOOD HABITS. 53 41.89 per cent of the annual food._ Seeds of composite yield 5.55 per cent, such injurious weeds as thistles making up the largest part of this percentage. The thistles most often eaten are Centaurea meli- tensis, C. americana, C. solstitialis, Ma- riana mariniana, Sonchus sp., and Car- duus sp. M. mariniana has the largest ( seeds. Ninety of these had been eaten by & x a quail shot by F. B. L. Beal at Hay- , wards, Cal., August 15, 1903. The seeds of the bur thistle (Centaurea melitensis ) - are smaller and have a hook at one end = and a set of spines like a paint brush at E the other. They are, perhaps, most liked Fie. 4—Seed of mayweed (Anthe- of all composite seeds. From 500 to 800 mis cotula). (From Bull. 38, Ne- yada Agricultural Experiment are often eaten at a meal. The destruc- Scan tion of this seed is highly beneficial, for the bur thistle is troublesome to farmers. Wild carrot (Daucus carota), tar weed (JJadia sativa), wild lettuce (Lactuca sp.), mayweed (Anthemis cotula), and marsh elder (Lva wanthi- foliz) furnish most of the remaining seeds of composite plants. Tar weed is a favorite source of food, and one stomach, collected at Watsonville, Cal., by J. S. Hunter, contained 700 of these seeds. Another stomach, from the same place, held 2,000 e a tiny seeds of dog fennel, or mayweed. (Fig. 4.) EE er ou From seeds of plants belonging to the spurge laria (Hrodium ci- cutarium). (From family (ELwphorbiacew) come 5.85 per cent of the Bull. 38, Nevada annual food. Spurges, particularly Croton setige- Agricultural Ex- periment Station.) 7/8, commonly known as turkey mullein, are a staple with the California quail as with most other seed- eating birds. So fond are the quail of turkey mullein that their crops are often completely distended with the seeds, sometimes from 500 to 900 toa bird. Turkey mullein is a prostrate plant covered with a whitish, woolly pubes- cence, and often used by the Indians to poison fish. Seeds of alfilaria (Hvodium cicutarium and other species), which is both a weed and a forage plant, are eagerly sought. They are lance-shaped, furnished with a long, elaborate, Fic. 6.—Seed of black mus- tard (Brassica wvigra). (From Bull. 38, Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station.) corkscrew awn ending in a thin spine. They burrow into sheep’s wool and even pierce the skin. The alfilaria is one of the few seeds of the West that all seed-eating birds consume. The plant is very 54 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. abundant in California, and the quail often eats from 1,000 to 1,600 of the little corkscrew seeds at a meal. It affords 13.38 per cent of the year’s food, and 26.70 per cent of the June diet. (Fig. 5.) Seeds of miscellaneous weeds comprise 17.11 per cent of the annual: food. Among the species included are pigweed (Chenopodium al- FAS 3Na ° EER. ; ce rire esse © Hea e eo seary eH Fic. 7.—Seed of chickweed (Alsine media). (From Bull. 47, Nevada Agricultural Ex- periment Station.) bum), rough pigweed (Amaranthus retroflerus), and black mustard (Brassica nigra) (fig. 6)—especially obnoxious in grain fields—and the closely related weed, wild radish (Raphanus sativus). Seeds of shepherd’s purse (Bursa bursa-pastoris) and of other cruciferous eee Seed of Geranium dissectum. (From Bull. 47, Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station. ) Ere: 8: plants are included in common with s/ene and the chickweeds ( Ceras- tium sp. and Alsine media) (fig. 7). Geranium seeds (fig. 8) are so much relished that often 300 or 400 are eaten at a time. Two closely related plants, miner’s lettuce (J/ontia perfoliata) and red Fic. 9.—Seed of sorrel (Rumex acetosella). (From Bull. 47, Nevada Agricultural Ex- periment Station.) maids (Calandrinia menziesii), bear minute shiny black seeds that often are eaten by the thousand. The little seeds of red sorrel (Rw mex acetosella) (fig. 9) and curled dock (umex crispus) are ocea- sionally taken in almost as large numbers, Seeds of chess (Bromus FOOD HABITS. 55 secalinus (fig. 10) and Bromus hordeaceus), a serious grain pest, are relished, and hundreds of the grain-lhke seeds of the grass known as ‘poison darnel’ (Lolium temulentuwm) appear in crops examined. Macoun, quoting Spreadborough, states that in British Columbia, where it winters successfully, the quail finds shelter in severe weather under the broom (Cytisus scoparius), which in places grows abun- dantly and yields seed for subsistence.? The quail feeds also at times on mast. A. K. Fisher, in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the last of July found both young and adult quail eating young acorns.’ Small quantities of sedge seeds (Carex and Scirpus) and of dodder (Cuscuta) are eaten, the latter plant being a destructive parasite on leguminous forage crops. The miscellaneous seed list includes also stick seeds (Lappula sp.). buttercup (Ranunculus sp.), bind weed (Convolvulus sp.), Am- sinckia sp., Anagallis arvensis, plaintain (Plantago major), ribgrass (Plantago lanceolata), painted cup (Castilleja sp.), mountain lilac =o Foy, Wy. Fic. 10.—Seed of chess (Bromus secalinus). (From. Bull. 47, Nevada Agricultural Ex- periment Station.) >. (Ceanothus sp.), and black wattle (Callicoma serratifolia). In the mountains of Lower California the food supply determines the breed- ing time of birds. If there is not enough rain for a good supply of seeds the coveys of quail do not break up into nesting pairs but remain ‘in coveys throughout the summer. If the season is wet and the winter rains promise abundant food the birds mate in March and begin nest- ing immediately.° Foop OF THE YOUNG. The food of young birds differs from that of the parents, as has ‘already been remarked of the bobwhite, but the difference is less marked with the California quail. Stomachs of 32 young of the western birds, from one-fourth to one-half grown, have been exam- ined. They were collected from the middle of July to the middle of September. The food was composed of 3.4 per cent animal matter aCat. Can. Birds, Part I, p. 198, 1900. bN. A. Fauna, No. 7, p. 28, 1893. ¢ Life Hist. N. A. Birds [I], p. 27, 1892. 56 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. and 96.6 per cent vegetable matter. Thirty-nine adult birds shot in the same period had eaten almost entirely vegetable food, since only 0.6 per cent of animal food appeared in analysis. Had the young birds been collected when newly hatched, undoubtedly a larger pro- portion of insect food would have been found. The 3.4 per cent of insect food mentioned consisted of beetles, 0.1 per cent; bugs, 0.2 per cent; grasshoppers, 1.3 per cent, and ants, 1.8 per cent. The vegetable food of the young is much like that of the adult. In this case it consisted of leguminous seeds, 18.1 per cent; alfilaria seeds, 18.5 per cent; miscellaneous seeds, 54.4 per cent; browse, 6.6 per cent; grain, 0.6 per cent, and miscellaneous vegetable matter, 0.4 per cent. GAMBEL QUAIL. (Lophortyx gambeli.) [PLATE II.] The Gambel quail in general appearance is much like the valley quail, but, among other differences, lacks the scalelike feathers of the lower parts and has considerable chestnut along the flanks. It lives in the Lower Sonoran zone, from western Texas to southeastern Cali- fornia and from southern Utah and Nevada south through central Sonora, Mexico. The desert is its home, but it is rarely found far from water. Its favorite haunts are patches of bushy vegetation, such as mesquite, mimosa, creosote, and patches of prickly pear. It fre- quently takes up its abode about cultivated land, living in alfalfa fields or nesting in vineyards. An interesting account of the habits of the Gambel quail in the Pahrump Valley, Nevada, is given by E. W. Nelson: I noticed that when a flock of quail came to feed on grain left by the horses an old male usually mounted the top of a tall bush close by and remained on guard for ten or fifteen minutes; then, if everything was quiet, he would fly down among his companions. At the first alarm the flock would take to the bushes, running swiftly, or flying when hard pressed. They roosted in the dense bunches of willows and cottonwoods growing along the ditches. * * * When feeding they have a series of low clucking and cooing notes which are kept up almost continually.¢ The love note, according to Coues, may be represented in words as ‘killink, killink.? Nesting takes place in April, sometimes not till May. About a dozen eggs usually constitute a clutch. In sections where this quail is still numerous the birds pack in bands of from 100 to 500 after the breeding season. From the sportsman’s point of view the Gambel quail as a game bird does not approach the bobwhite. It will sometimes he to a dog aN. A. Fauna, No. 7, pp. 29, 30, 1893. t | Bull. 21, Biological Survey, U S. Dept. of Agriculture = PLATE Il. | | | | | GAMBEL QUAIL (LOPHORTYX GAMBELI]I). GAMBEL QUAIL. 57 fairly well, but as a rule it takes to its legs with all haste and leaves the dog on point, to the vexation of the hunter. It is, however, a useful species, which brightens the desert with its presence and con- tributes a welcome addition to the fare of the traveler. While less valuable than the bobwhite as a destroyer of noxious insects and as an object of sport, this bird well deserves protection for its food value and its beauty. It thrives under desert conditions and might be successfully introduced in the arid regions of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. FOOD HABITS. Stomachs of 28 birds collected mainly in Arizona and Utah, from January to June, have been examined. Only 0.48 per cent of the food consisted of insects; the remaining 99.52 per cent was vegetable matter. Like the valley quail, this is one of our least insectivorous birds. Its insect diet includes ants, beetles, grasshoppers, leaf hop- pers (embracidw), and stink bugs (Pentatomidew). Among the beetles are the western twelve-spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica soror) and PD. tenella. The young chicks, however, will doubtless be found highly insectivorous and therefore useful. The vegetable food of Gambel quail was made up as follows: Grain, 3.89 per cent, miscellaneous seeds, 31.89 per cent, and leaves and plant shoots, 63.74 per cent. From the present investigation the bird appears less frugivorous than any of the other American quails, for not one of the 28 stomachs contained fruit. Observers, however, say that the bird is somewhat frugivorous, and no doubt in a country well stocked with berries and fruit it would rapidly develop a frugivorous taste. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, for instance, state that during summer it makes its home in patches of Solanum and feeds on the tolerably palatable fruit, and also that it is known to eat gooseberries.¢ Coues says: “In the fall it gathers cherries and grapes. * * * It visits patches of prickly pear (Opuntia) to feed upon the soft juicy * Tunas’ that are eaten by everything in Arizona, from men and bears to beetles.” ? The grain eaten by the Gambel quail was corn, wheat, and oats. In flocks numbering from 50 to 100, it feeds about grain stacks with domestic poultry. It is even more industrious as a browser on fohage than the valley quail. Succulent foliage and shoots form 63.74 per cent of its food. Much of this comes from alfalfa, bur clover, and the foliage of other legumes. Vernon Bailey, of the Biological Sur- vey, says that at St. Thomas, Ariz., in January, 1889, this quail fairly swarmed on alfalfa fields, feeding on the green leaves and pods. He found flocks of from 25 to 50 in such situations, and during a @ Birds of Northwest, p. 434, 1874. b Hist. N. Am. Birds, III, p. 483, 1874. 58 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. five minutes’ walk often saw a hundred birds. The same observer, when in Mohave County, Ariz., found that the bird fed principally on juicy plants when it could not procure water. At times it eats erass and its inflorescence, and it has been known to devour showy flowers. In spring it shows a fondness for buds. Baird, Brewer, end Ridgway note that then it feeds largely on the willow buds, which impart to its flesh a distinctly bitter taste. The seed-eating habits of Gambel quail closely resemble those of the valley quail. Leguminous plants furnish the largest part of the seed food—21.17 per cent of the annual diet—alfalfa, bur clover, and kindred plants appearing to be preferred, but cassias, acacias, and lupines also are taken, as well as the beans of the mesquite, which in many places are a staple with birds and mammals. The seeds of alfilaria (Lvodium cicutarium), another bird staple, furnish 2.28 per cent of the year’s food. Miscellaneous seeds form 8.44 per cent. They are obtained from grasses, mallows (J/alva), and such crucif- erous plants as mustard (Brassica) and peppergrass (Lepidium) ; also from chickweed (Cerastium) and Atriplex. MOUNTAIN QUAIL. (Oreortyx pictus.?) The mountain quail occurs in the forested mountains of the humid Transition Zone of the Pacific coast, from Santa Barbara, Cal., to Washington, and in the mountains of the more arid Transition Zone on the west side of the Cascades in northern Oregeon and south over the Sierra Nevada to northern Lower California. The birds of the Sierra Nevada winter at lower altitudes than they nest, but those of the coast mountains do not make this vertical migration. This species is the largest and among the handsomest of American quail, with two long jet-black crest plumes and rich chestnut throat and flanks, the latter broadly banded transversely with spotless white. The nests of the mountain quail are placed on the ground and usu- ally contain 10 to 12 eggs, which vary from pale-cream color to a much darker due. At Tillamook, Oreg., June 30 and July 4, 1897, A. K. Fisher found newly hatched chicks; and at Donner, Cal., July 11 and 19, at an altitude ranging from 6,100 to 8,000 feet, Vernon Bailey found nine broods, varying in age from newly hatched chicks to half-grown birds. Bendire, quoting L. W. Green, of the United States Fish Commission, says that the earliest date of the nesting of a Hist. N. Am. Birds, III, p. 485, 1874. ’ The name is used here to cover both the typical dark birds of the humid coast forests (Oreortyxs pictus) and the paler one (O. p. plumiferus) of the more arid Transition Zone in the Sierras and Cascades. MOUNTAIN QUAIL. 59 the plumed mountain quail (Ovreortyx p. plumiferus) known to him was April 15, and the latest, August 15. He states also that the cock bird takes care of the young.* Chester Barlow, in writing of the habits of the mountain quail, says: that at Fyffe, Cal., it begins to nest the last of May or early in June. All nests that he found were built in a growth of ‘mountain misery’ (Chamebatia sp.) 8 to 10 inches high.’ On Mount Tallac and the higher slopes of Pyra- mid Peak, W. W. Price found newly hatched young as late as August 15. He noted that by September 1 the quail became restless and soon began their peculiar migration from the east slope to the west slope of the Sierras. From 4 to 6 adults with their young form a small band of from 10 to 30 individuals, and pursue their way almost wholly on foot to a more congenial winter climate; and by October 1 all had abandoned elevations above 5,000 feet. In spring they migrate back singly or in pairs.° There are many admirers of this bird because of its exquisite plumage, but most sportsmen prefer a game bird that hes better to the dog. Its flesh is excellent, and the bird sells well in the market. H. W. Henshaw reports that in the late fall of 1880 he found the markets of Portland, Oreg., well suppled with lve mountain quails which had been trapped in the neighboring mountains, cooped, and sent to the city for sale. Nowhere is it so numerous as the California quail, or the bobwhite in the Southern States, and it is more of a forest-loving species than any other American quail. The mountain cuail sometimes enters cleared fields, but so far as the records of the Biological Survey show it does no appreciable damage to cultivated fruits or other crops and it is a useful destroyer of weed seeds. FOOD HABITS. No stomachs of the mountain quail of the humid regions were available for examination, but Sandys writes that the bird feeds on insects and various seeds, including grain,’ and Elhot says it some- dimes approaches farm buildings in search of scattered kernels of grain.° The food of the mountain quail of the arid regions has been studied in the laboratory of the Biological Survey. The stomachs examined, 23 in number, were collected in California. Five were collected in January, 2 in May, 6 in June, 3 in July, 3 in August, and aLife Hist. N. Am. Birds [I], p. 16, 1892. 6 Condor, 3, p. 158, 1901. ¢ Condor, 3, pp. 158, 160, 1901. dUpland Game Birds, p. 93, 1902. € Gallinaceous Game Birds N. A., p. 42, 1897. 60 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. 6 in November. The food consisted of animal matter, 3 per cent, and vegetable matter, 97 per cent. The animal food was made up of grasshoppers, 0.05 per cent; beetles, 0.23 per cent; miscellaneous insects, including ants and lepidopterous pupe, 1.90 per cent; and centipedes and harvest spiders (Phalangid@), 0.82 per cent. Among the beetles was a species of the firefly family (Lampyride@), a ground beetle (Carabidw), and a leaf beetle (Haltica sp.). Vernon Bailey informs the writer that the young eat many ants. The vegetable food consisted of grain, 18.20 per cent; seeds, practically all of weeds © or other worthless plants, 46.61 per cent; fruit, 8.11 per cent; and miscellaneous vegetable matter, 24.08 per cent. The grain included wheat, corn, barley, and oats. Of the seed element the seeds of grasses formed 7.78 per cent; of legumes, 10.41 per cent; of weeds of the family ELuphorbiacew, 3.16 per cent; of alfilaria (Erodium cicutarium), 2.76 per cent; and of miscellaneous weeds, 22.50 per cent. The legume seeds include seeds of alfalfa, cassia, bush clover, vetch, and lupine. The miscellaneous seeds come from wild carrot (Daucus carota), tar weed (JMadia sativa), Collomia sp., Amsinckia sp., labiate plants, dwarf oak, snowbush (Ceanothus cordulatus), and thistle. Concerning the feeding habits of mountain quail of the dry coun- try (O. p. plumiferus), J. HE. McClellan says: “ Their feeding hours are early in the morning and just before sundown in the evening, when they go to roost in the thick tops of the scrub live oaks. Their feeding habits are similar to those of the domestic hen. They are vigorous scratchers, and will jump a foot or more from the ground to nip off leaves.”* This bird is especially fond of the leaves of clover and other leguminous plants. It feeds also on flowers, being known to select those of Composite and blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium). Flowers, leaves, buds, and other kinds of vegetable matter form the 24.08 per cent marked miscellaneous. The birds probably eat more fruit than these stomach examinations indicate. Lyman Belding says that this quail feeds on service berries, and that during certain seasons it lives almost entirely on grass bulbs (Jfelica bulbosa), which it gets by scratching, for which its large, powerful feet are well adapted. The fruit in its bill of fare includes gooseberries, service berries (:melanchier alnifolia), and grapes (Vitis californica). The bird is probably fond also of manzanita berries, for it is often seen among these shrubs. 4MS. Records, Biological Survey. SCALED QUAIL. 61 SCALED QUAIL. (Callipepla squamata.)4 The ‘cotton top,’ or scaled quail, as it is commonly known, is bluish gray on the back, with black-edged feathers on the under parts, which appear like large scales. Its conspicuous white-tipped crest has given it the local name of cotton top. It is found in southern Colorado and in the Upper and Lower Sonoran zones from Arizona to western and southern Texas and south to the Valley of Mexico. The birds of the lower Rio Grande region are darker than those far- ther west. According to Bendire, this quail lives on open arid plains overgrown with yucca, cactus, and sagebrush, and often gathers in coveys numbering 25 to 80. It lays about a dozen eggs, and he be- heves*that two or three broods are reared ina season. The cock assists in the care of the young, but not in incubation.? FOOD HABITS. The food habits of this game bird-are of especial interest. Stom- achs and crops of 47 specimens have been examined, most of which came from New Mexico, the others from Arizona and Texas. They were collected as follows: January, 7; May, 1; June, 2; July, 3; September, 13; October, 19, and November, 2. As with all other gallinaceous birds, more or less mineral matter is swallowed, usually small pieces of quartz. The food consisted of animal matter, 29.6 per cent, and vegetable matter, 70.4 per cent. The food of the cotton top differs from that of all other American quails in that it contains a large proportion of imsects. These com- prise no less than 29.03 per cent of its food, a percentage almost twice as great as that of the bobwhite, although if more stomachs of the present species had been available for examination the ratio might have been different. However, the important fact is established that this bird is a large consumer of insects, instead of being, like most other western quail, practically graminivorous. Of the insect food, grasshoppers comprise 15.86 per cent; beetles, 10.43 per cent, and mis- cellaneous insects, largely ants, 3.27 per cent. A few spiders also are taken, but they constitute only 0.03 per cent of the food for the year. The beetles are in the larval as well as the adult forms. The family of ground beetles (Carabidw), a favorite one with terrestrial birds, is well represented. A single beetle with a featherlike antenna, of the family Pyrochroidw, had been eaten. Some longicorn beetles and plant-eating scarabeid beetles also were eaten. A bird collected in @ The name of the species is used here to include both the typical scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) and. the more restricted chestnut-bellied quail of south- ern Texas (C. s. castanogastris). b Life Hist, N, A. Birds [I], pp. 18-20, 1892. 62 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. June had consumed 44 of the latter beetles, which were leaf chafers, apparently closely related to the genus Serica. The scaled quail destroys also weevils, such as the clover weevil, Sitones, and certain species of the family Otiorhynchide, or scarred snout beetles. It takes also leaf beetles, the very injurious twelve-spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica 12-punctata). Further studies of the beetle food undoubtedly will disclose a large number of pests. The bird will probably be found to be a useful consumer also of grasshoppers, since a third of its September food consisted of them. Their remains- were so fragmentary, however, that identification of species was un- | satisfactory. In one case a member of the genus 77rimerotropis was recognized. Ants had been eaten by 15 of the 47 birds examined. The other miscellaneous insects included small bugs (Heteroptera) and the chrysalis of a fly. One of the queerest objects found by the writer in birds’ stomachs is the ‘ ground pearl’ (J/argarodes), sev- eral hundred of which were contained in the stomach of a cotton top shot at Roswell, N. Mex., June 17, 1899. They are lustrous and look like pearls, but are merely scale insects that feed on the roots of plants. , Vegetable matter furnished 70 per cent of the food of the scaled quail. Grain contributed 0.57 per cent; seeds, mostly weed seeds, 52.85 per cent; fruit, 12.65 per cent, and leaves and other green tissue, 4.33 per cent. The species resembles the ruffed grouse in its habit of feeding on green leaves and tender shoots. It feeds upon budded twigs, but more often limits its choice to chlorophyll-bearing tissue, often picking green seed pods of various plants. Like domestic fowls, it eats grass blades. Fruit was eaten by only 6 of the 47 birds, and none was taken from cultivated varieties. As might be expected from inhabitants of arid plains, these birds like the fruit of cacti, and have been found feeding on the prickly pear (Opuntia lind- heimeri). The fruit of [bervillea lindheimeri also is eaten. The blue berries of Adelia angustifolia, which furnish many desert birds and mammals with food, are often eaten by the scaled quail. Differ- ent kinds of Rubus fruits are relished, and the berries of Koeberlinia spinosa and Momisia pallida also are eaten. The fruit and succulent parts of plants no doubt serve in part in the parched desert as a sub- stitute for water. Seeds of various plants form a little more than half of the food. Legumes furnish 21.84 per cent, the mesquite (Prosopis julifiora), a staple with both man and beast, being utilized, as are the seeds of mimosa (J/. biuncifera), besides various cassias and lupines. Seeds of vetch (Vicia sp.) are a favorite food, and Morongia roemeriana is eaten. ‘The bird likes seeds of J/edicago, and at times will eat clover seeds. Miscellaneous weed seeds yield 31.01 per cent of the annual food. Nearly half of these are seeds of bindweed (Convolvulus sp.), MEARNS QUAIL. 63 an abundant and troublesome weed in the South, where it often throt- tles other plants. The following miscellaneous seeds were found among their food : Thistle (Carduus sp.). Borage (Amsinckia sp.). Wild sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Mallow (JMalva rotundifolia). Coreopsis (Coreopsis coronaria). Turkey mullein (Croton setigerus). Aster (Aster sp.). Croton (Croton terensis). Chamomile (Anthemis sp.). Alfilaria (Hrodium cicutarium). Pigweed (Amaranthus sp.). Spurge (Luphorbia sp.). Gromwell (Lithospermum sp.). Grass seeds have not yet been found in quantity in the crop of the species, but panicum seeds have been recognized. In summing up the economic status of the scaled quail it should be noted that although the bird is a desert species, it comes into more or less direct relation with agriculture, sometimes feeding upon culti- vated land and about farm buildings. Moreover, half of its food consists of the seeds of weeds. Lastly, it is highly insectivorous, fully one-fourth of its food consisting of insects. MEARNS QUAIL. (Cyrtonyxs montezume mearnsi.®) The pervading colors of the male Mearns quail are black, white, and chestnut. Its thick speckles of white and its peculiar shape sug- gest a miniature guinea hen. The species is found on the table-lands of Mexico from the City of Mexico north to western Texas, New Mex- ico, and Arizona, but the bird considered here is limited to the northern part of this range. It is a confiding bird and either from excess of curiosity or from stupidity has been known to remain on the ground to be killed by a stick. From this lack of suspicion it has received the name ‘ fool quail.” It affords the sportsman with a dog much better shooting than its more erratic crested relatives. Grassy or bushy cover is more necessary to this bird than to the scaled quail cr Gambel quail. Unlike the latter species, it does not pack, though it is more or less mi- gratory. Its nesting habits are not well known. Bendire describes a nest found in Kinney County, Tex., June 22, 1890. It was placed in a depression of the ground, and contained 10 eggs. FOOD HABITS. The food habits of the Mearns quail are not well known. The Biological Survey has examined the contents of 9 crops and stom- a@The typical Massena quail (Cyrtonys montezume) is a bird of the moun- tains about the Mexican table-land, and gives way to the paler Mearns quail ( C. m. mearnsi) in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. 64 BOBWHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. achs, secured in Texas and New Mexico during August and November. Two of the birds were killed in a patch of cactus. They contained seeds and spines from the prickly pear, acacia, and other seeds, grass blades, and a trace of insects—weevils and other beetles—besides a large quantity of coarse sand and iron ore. The other 7 birds were shot in August. Two had their crops filled with the bulbs of a lily. The others also had eaten lily bulbs, which in the 5 birds made three- fourths of the food. The other food was prickly pear fruit, seeds of legumes and spurges, and such insects as weevils, smooth caterpillars. hairy caterpillars, bugs, crickets, and grasshoppers. Cassin states that the contents of the crop of a specimen sent him from Texas by — Captain French “ consisted exclusively of fragments of insects, pro- nounced by Doctor Leconte to be principally grasshoppers and a specimen of Spectrum.” * According to Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway. the Mearns quail appeared quite at home in cultivated fields and stubble of the ranches.’ Away from civilization it prefers districts covered with open forest, with alternate areas of grass and scattered bushy undergrowth, or hillsides covered with grass and bushes. Its habits vary considerably with the locality. Bendire records that the species lives in rocky ravines and arroyos, but quickly adapts itself to ranch conditions and may be seen running about to gather kerne!s of scattered grain. He says also that it is fond of acorns, mountain laurel, arbutus, cedar, and other berries, and notes that its large, strong feet are well suited to unearthing the bulbs on which it feeds. He found holes 2 inches deep which it had dug for this purpose. These quail. often come out into mountain roads to search for scattered erain and to dust themselves. As they are readily tamed, they could doubtless be successfully introduced into other regions. a Tllustration of Birds of California, Texas, etc., p. 25, 1856. b Hist. N. Am. Birds, ITI, p. 492, 1874. INSEE AXE. Page. MMT A ecOOG LO lu O Divs milk sae ast eee Dents aS meen Se ae 4D Beetles eaten by bobwhite ____-___ Bn OCT mtn San ee tieapi eae sd opel SIN SOD Wilt testes eo) oot ee Aner eS a Ree iia a eee =e 9-46 Cr Vid UW POU {sot COLO 0 Lee ee etna ae nies SA Dl Cas drome spas sal Esse: S 45 aSraneally.or- thestarmers 2-2. sss = = eA EARL N ALN nm i 14 as an article of food_______~_ = ates cies Da ee Se ae ches 16 aS ane asset: of the farms =~ 227 Ley ang ae Ses, Sia et ae Be 15 as an object of sport Sa es PE a eer aN hn a AE a 16 | OUEST VISE? J AWA Gye RS). ts SS BE ah a a ee eer re On a ee 11 Call SMO LCS esate a Se eee eee ee S =~ eahees ewes atk 10 GCECKEASGe Wes So en ee nS a: eS os ee Sue 18 esthetreevallie == SS Se ee ee eet See Hey, foEodshapits = 2s. Es NN Re as 2 ce eR ____ 27-46 ewenerals babite——* = ae ope: Eyah ree seks et 153 legislation: regarding: —-- = = =- 2 Sree SEU Sw feerege sie ee 19 preservation and propagation ________ =e Sete gee ees _ 20-26 WiHIRGCRIM Gs. 52 ae ee See. Sees een eee a ae 12 223—26 ISECCOINO? A DIES 2s" SS See ces abies at... Sere ep es aivegeet yl el lead (2 EWds7as-t00d -OL Dobwihites— ==) = ese De oe ee ne 30 Buss eaten. py-bobwhite = 2 2. eee See ca ast aoe ae aire 42 SubOM AR OU = 2 Sa ee as ae lena te WA ~ 47-56 OOM MAD Sees eee SN ee ee a a a AS et eel Pal ane, BV 49 California mountain quail ____ AEN Se aap Ts). Na OT rok a ea 8 ee CE EC AT eo a Nc ak ae Ra as 8 Carhipepias squama ta-= 2 oe a RS e ees elle a see Bence enter Syl En Caterpillars eaten by bobw hite_ 3 sewers a Mierele sted Arete Sse 44 COlimMISsridse wayi= = 8 Ree ee aS De eee Seiad xs 46 ALSO AEN US Soest = ee eS ey en ee Sara ITS ee A se SS ete 9 Cyrtonyx montezume mearnsi__ ee, i Erne e SE OS ARS S apa 63 Decrease of bobwhite =.—_-=---.-2.2-_== Es arias Jet nari Age Beye eene 9S Io ==) (0) Food habits of California quail___ meee W Riese See te Gate, oieena rs © Nene YS) 45 Gambel quail RS ao Ra re ees 2 Sper ese Se Per tl Od MearnsSs Quail ae ee ae a ate SONNET oe a ee 6 TIVO UMA TMS Oe ee rs ts RA aut Saat a = sh O560 SOERT EY bea a DU Ds es ne re ee 61-63 PoodsoOtsyoune DOD white =] > Se 5 ee es 45 Wainer asd Wale a Eee ae ee ee 55 ooleeaal atlas see Fe ses es 8 See Sa e zt cae te) Pima SerOO sO. DOU WNT LC! ais. a5 anit re eer ko ae 35-37 Catena yes @a Lio Milas Ut ls = =e w e e ee eee 50 Camibe Laas sae ea Sefer wes 8, 56-58 SEG OYE ee] A RY OT RS Yas Ne ee ee ne ee a nt a ee Bead oat Pe Ee NS Gramuecaten by California. quail 22— 22-22-22) SONS eo Se eee 51 Amo te Ole DOU WNC, staat ed ene ee ee 28-31 GEASShOppeEs, caten: by, DODWinit@== 5 2= 255 9 rs 43, 44 Ground beetles eaten by bobwhite________-_______ Bei te Soman InNSECE TOO Of: CalifoOrmia GMail se es ee Js 49 PISEGRS MA SLO OMe Ole DOD Wi ite arenes ee SS ee Sti wear eating, beetlesseaten by; Dobwihites=— ">. 22 7 39, 41 Ae Se Se OOU Ose OD Wwalblit ess mene erect ee eee 37 SAUCHe Vero LikO RMT Aare] Ula lll erate | 52 ResistaWoneiis Dealt Or DOOWMIter = a ee eee 19-20 66 "INDEX. Page. Lophortyx ‘Califormtca 2 os Ses eas a i a el ee ee ee AT—56 Vallicolla: 225 See scwa 20-2 eS eee ees 47-56 campeli.” =2 tAeee See eee ee Pies hes ee rs De Bes oS LAY yg es © Masied:- bobwihite 2 see eae eee Oy sree savas 46 Mast as food of bobwhite________-~ So Barca eect tice Se en 35 Meamms: Quail<- 22-5. Soe SE IR aS SET Se Se yas food “habits: =2 ss foal ee x Be Ai a ah SN ODE FOP 63 Miscellaneous animal food of bobwhite ____ DIRE BD aay eed ee 45 Mountain qa] 22s) eae ee eee ee e Sas See RES sy Me ee 58-60 FOO abi tS cao ss is ee ee ee ee 2 le Seer enema eae. ae ee ToS OG Oreortyx pictus _ eee NoMa ares SEE SE DEERE SES) a ie he eee 58-60 plumitecis=sse Sei a eee = oe wee Seer 58—60 Pine seeds, food of bobwhite a ke avn Ee Do Sealed vqua tls a2 at wae ee gate SD Ope a ee es re eee 61-63 TOOG NAWitS 22s Oss Sa eee eee a gc ie LEAR E Ses eee ONE tye Vegetable food of California quail__________ ei rea nan es ae 59 Weed seeds as food of bobwhite____--________ Sse eet E Be PANES Reyes oe I 31—35 eaten by California quail_____=__-_- is ea ER Pon ee 52 Weewils eaten by show lite ss S22 x) be ee en 40, 41 7 - : ' . si 7 7 ” ; r 7 - - - on 7 7 7 : - ; 7 7 * : 0 ; - v - . 7 - : ; lr - ~ 7 Le : : os - ’ in - - : 7 7 ; ’ : , 7 ; ; = ne = 4 = 7 F \ d r a a - i : 7 : 5 ut 7 7 A nt ee arta PY ee oa s x ranks é yg y pa) if to sue oa ee Magy Bet ~~ or Perm / a ee ae ine \ s ‘ ak: us