230 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



STUBBLE QUAIL, 



Cotiiriiix pectoralis, ii\{}, 



Co-tn.r'niks pek-to-ra lis. 

 Coturnix, a quail ; pectus, the breast ; alis, pertaining to. 

 CoTURNix PECTORALis, Gould, "• Birds of Australia," fol., vol. v., pi. 88. 

 Geographical Distribution. — Areas 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 



Key to the Species. — Outer web of })rimaries uniform brown, not 

 barred and marked with buff. 



3Icde — Throat dull brick colour. 



Female — Black bands on the feathers of the breast not confluent 

 in the median line, but separated by a buff isthmus. 



Ameeicans believe the Quails to be of far greater value when 

 alive and roaming freely about the farm. The food of the 

 North American common Quai] has been carefully studied by 

 Dr. S. W. Judd, of the U.S. Biological Survey, with results 

 that will doubtless surprise many people. Speaking of 13 

 birds which he shot, he says : — " These 13 had taken weed 

 seeds to the extent of 63 per cent, of their food. Though the 

 stomachs and crops were not well filled, the birds had eaten 

 5,582 weed seeds, and one bird, in addition to other weeds, 

 had consumed 550 seeds of that farmers' curse, the sheep 

 sorrel. Another bird had swallowed 10,000 seSds of that 

 abundant and noxious pest, the pig-weed. Amongst the 

 insects eaten were found large quantities of potato beetles, 

 cut- worms, and chinch bugs. One specimen ate 47 cotton-boll 

 weevils in a morning meal." Crops and stomachs are 

 frequently examined with nothing but ragweed. On a very 

 conservative basis the total consumption of weed seeds by the 

 Bob white Quail between 1st September and 30th April, in 

 Virginia, amounts to 573 tons. 



The losses caused by many pests show how^ desirable it is 

 to protect a bird that habitually destroys them. In Australia 



