10 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 657. 
THE BOBWHITE OR QUAIL. 
Inland the common ‘quail’ or bobwhite is the only bird that can 
be said to devour the chinch bug in considerable numbers. It is said 
that from 300 to 400 chinch bugs have been found in the crops of 
bobwhites; 100, however, is the largest number found so far by the 
Biological Survey. As the bobwhite is one of our most highly prized 
game birds, it is slaughtered annually in tremendous numbers, fre- 
quently with no object except sport. Some also are killed by flying 
against electric wires, while during severe winters entire coveys are 
sometimes smothered or frozen under the snow. As a result the 
helpfulness of the quail against chinch bugs is greatly diminished. It 
would seem that as important an enemy of the chinch bug as this bird 
is known to be would receive protective immunity throughout the 
agricultural regions and that farmers would see to it that protective 
laws were not only enacted but also stringently enforced. 
The following list will show the degree of protection offered the quail 
by legislative enactment in the States where the chinch bug is the most 
destructive (see map, fig. 6). The closed seasons, for quail in the 
several States, during which killing is prohibited by law, are as 
follows: ! 
Maine, all the year. 
New York, protected until Oct. 1, 1918. (Long Island, Jan. 1 to Nov. 1.) 
Pennsylvania, December 16 to November 1. 
Ohio, protected until November 15, 1915. 
Indiana, December 21 to November 10. 
Illinois, December 10 to November 11. 
Minnesota, December | to October 1. 
Iowa, December 15 to November 1. 
Missouri, January 1 to December I. 
Nebraska, November 16 to November | (open season for 15 days only). 
Kansas, protected until March 19, 1918. 
Oklahoma, February 1 to November 15. 
Texas, February 1 to November 1. 
The breeding season from latitude 38° northward to Canada begins 
in May and continues through July and occasionally into September. 
OTHER BIRD ENEMIES. 
To what extent the birds of the coast region feed upon the chinch 
bug it is impossible to say. However, among the bird enemies of the 
pest are the prairie chicken, redwinged blackbird, catbird, brown 
thrush or thrasher, meadowlark, house wren, tree swallow, horned 
lark, Arkansas kingbird, Traill’s flycatcher, seaside sparrow, savanna 
sparrow, song sparrow, tree sparrow, and barn swallow. 
1 Palmer, T. S., Bancroft, W. F., and Earnshaw, Frank L., Game Laws for 1914. U. S. Dept. Agr., 
Farmers’ Bul. 628, p. 14-26, Oct. 20, 1914. 
