HODGE] 



NATURE-STUDY AXD THE BOB WHITE 55 



begin to shell. They ought to be cleaned out of the garden, 

 barnyard and fence corners at this time anyway. Selecting 

 a sheltered place on the south side of a hill or grove put down 

 a pile of the weeds, say a foot thick, on top of this lay a good 

 foot of stout brush, add another layer of weeds and another 

 of brush; cap the whole with a thick layer of weeds and put a 

 rock or two on top to keep the wind from blowing it away, 

 or lean a few sticks over the pile, and you have the greatest 

 possible device for feeding and protecting your winter birds. 

 The purpose of the brush, of course, is to make spaces through 

 which the sun can shine deep into the pile. If many birds are 

 feeding, and there is danger of the seeds running low, loft 

 sweepings, screenings or millet may be thrown into the south 

 side of the rick any time after severe storms in the winter. The 

 brush must be strong, so that no amount of snow or ice can 

 crush it down; or, instead of a safe shelter, we may have a 

 death trap. 



Bobwhites sometimes come into the barnyards to feed with 

 the poultry and coveys may often be brought through the win- 

 ter by encouraging them to do this. 



A reasonable estimate places our annual loss caused by 

 weeds at $17,000,000, and the yearly tax imposed by insects- 



2. 



i 



r 



BORWHITE CHICK THREE WEEKS OLD-USUAL OCCUPATION 



at $795,100,000. The natural food of the bobwhite is weed- 

 seed and insects, and it seems to like the worst kinds best. 



Mrs. Margaret Morse Nice has just completed an exhaus- 

 tive study of the food of the bobwhite. Instead of killing the 

 birds and analyzing the contents of the crop, she has worked 



