Birds of Indiana. 



749 



oi-lact bird about tlie 1-arm, they become erratic. Hunters bay they 

 are crazy They seem possessed with a desire to migrate, commg mto 

 towns and cities in some numbers. They, at such times, are lost and 

 bewildered They are found in trees and among the shrubbery of gar- 

 dens, in outbuildings and among lumber piles. I have seen them m 

 the cellar window-boxes and over the transoms of the front doors ot 

 houses. They fly into stores and dash against their glass fronts. 

 Throucrhout the day their characteristic call is heard, each one calling 

 to its ''mate who-e-he, who-e-he, which we sometimes interpret as 

 "Where are you?" "Where are you?" I have noticed this as early as Oc- 

 tober 12 (1890). Some years it is much more noticeable than others. 

 On the farms the results of this movement are seen. Farms where 

 a number of covies have been reared will be found to have no 

 Bobwhites on them by November 1. Other farms, not far away, will 

 have the number of these birds greatly increased. 



Some years they appear to desert the uplands and seek the river 

 valleys The fall of 1890 hunters spoke of the scarcity of Bobwhites 

 when the season opened. The uplands, which are first hunted, were 

 found to contain almost no birds, although a few weeks before they 

 were abundant there. They were, however, abundant m the river 

 valleys, where, among the bottom corn-fields, they were not hunted 

 till later. Most of them apparently attempted to migrate southward. 

 The Ohio River bottoms contained immense numbers of Bobwhites, 

 and many crossed the river into Kentucky, others were killed m 

 attempting to cross. I have been told that when they reached Ken- 

 tucky they were exhausted and many of them were killed without the 

 use of a gun, or were trapped without much effort. 



By spring the flocks have generally been scattered. However, m 

 protected localities, they frequently remain together quite late, much 

 later than some begin mating. A flock of fourteen was observed dust- 

 ing themselves in the sand, April 27, 1897. 



The spring call of this bird is what has given it the present name. 

 "Bob-white, Oh! Bob-white" sounds from many a stake of the old worm 

 fence in May and June. No more cheery sound is heard throughout 

 rural America than this call at mating time. Tt has been fittingly set 

 in a beautiful poem by the master hand of my friend, Lee 0. Hams, 

 one of the best poets of our State. April is the beginning of mating 

 time, and sometimes nesting begins by May 1. Two and sometimes 

 three broods are reared in a year. The nest, of grasses, is built upon 

 the -round It is often placed in a fence-row; an old rail fence corner 

 is alavorite spot, beside a stump, in a little protected place in a pas- 

 ture or in a thinly vined berry patch. T have fonnrl them on the bank 



