30 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Winter. — In the southern portions of their range, where quail en- 

 joy open winters, their habits and haunts are about the same as 

 during fall ; but in the northern regions of ice and snow they have 

 a hard struggle for existence and many perish from hunger and cold 

 in severe winters. Quail have been known to dive into soft snow- 

 drifts for protection from severe cold; Sandys (1904) says he 

 has caught them in such situations. More often, at the approach of 

 a snowstorm, they huddle together in some sheltered spot and let 

 the snow cover them. This gives them good protection from the 

 wind and cold; but if the snow turns to rain, followed by a severe 

 freeze the birds are imprisoned and often perish from hunger be- 

 fore they can escape. Birds seldom freeze to death, if they can get 

 plenty of food, but cold combined with hunger they can not stand. 

 Mr. Forbush (1927) tells an interesting story of a man who had 

 been feeding a covey of quail ; for 10 days after a heavy snowstorm, 

 followed by a thaw and freeze, they failed to come to their usual 

 feeding place; believing them to be imprisoned under the snow he 

 went to the place where they were accustomed to sleep and broke 

 the crust ; the next day they came to feed and a search showed that 

 they had found the place where he had broken the crust for them. 



Quail often find more or less open situations where they get some 

 shelter, under logs or fallen trees, under thick evergreens, in tangles 

 of briers, in brush piles, or under banks with southern exposure; in 

 such places they find bare ground and can pick up some food, as well 

 as the gravel or grit that they need. They avoid open places and do 

 not like to travel on snow, where they are so conspicuous; but they 

 have to go out to forage for food, such as the seeds of weeds, project- 

 ing above the snow, rose hips, dried berries, seeds of sumac, bay- 

 berries, and other plants. When hard pressed they often visit the 

 barnyard to feed with the poultry. Farmers, sportsmen, boy scouts, 

 and many other persons make a practice of feeding quail regularly in 

 winter. They should have a shelter, made of brush, evergreen 

 boughs, or corn stalks, open at both ends so that the birds can escape 

 at either end. The ground under this should be kept bare and well 

 supplied with almost any kind of grain and plenty of grit. Quail 

 will come regularly to such places and the lives of many will be saved. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Chiefly the Eastern United States, ranging west to east- 

 ern Texas, eastern Colorado, and the Dakotas. The great interest 

 shown by sportsmen in the bob white has resulted in introductions over 

 the entire country. Though many of these experiments have resulted 

 in failure, others have been notably successful, and in some regions 

 the introduced birds have spread out and met those that are indige- 



