Table 5.— For each of several food items, the percentage of bobwhite crops containing that food and the percentage of the 

 total volume of crop contents comprised by that food in bobwhite crops collected in southern Illinois during the first and the 

 last 10 days of the 31-day hunting seasons of 1950 and 1951 combined. 



•Includes all foods forming 0.25 per cent or more of the volume in any subdivision of this table. 



dietary trends of bobwhites may be indicated during a 

 comparatively short hunting season. 



SUMMARY 



Crops from 4,606 bobwhites were collected in 34 

 southern Illinois counties during the hunting seasons 

 (November Il-December 11) of 1950 and 1951. Food was 

 found in 4,171 of the crops. 



For both years combined, materials identified as 

 plant formed 93.94 per cent of the volume of crop con- 

 tents, materials identified as animal 6.03 per cent, un- 

 identified organic material 0.01 per cent, and grit 0.02 

 per cent. 



Six plant families each comprised 1 per cent or more 

 of the plant volume and together totaled 97.58 per cent 

 of all plant food materials. These were the following: 

 legumes 39.22 per cent, grasses 37.83 per cent, beeches 

 7.65 per cent, composites 6.91 per cent, laurels 4.04 

 per cent, and touch-me-nots 1.93 per cent. The Gastrop- 



oda and the Insecta accounted for most of the animal 

 material, comprising respectively 48.64 and 44.56 per 

 cent of the animal food items. 



One hundred eighty-seven separate foods were found 

 in the crops, but only 14 foods comprised 1 per cent or 

 more each of the total volume. These included com 

 27.79 per cent, soybean 22.43 per cent, Korean and 

 Japanese lespedezas 8.66 per cent, acorns 7.19 per 

 cent, wheat 5.45 per cent, common ragweed 4.58 per 

 cent, white sassafras 3.80 per cent, desmodium 2.94 

 per cent, slugs 2.81 per cent, jewelweed 1.82 per cent, 

 bidens 1.38 per cent, cowpea 1.36 per cent, short-horned 

 grasshoppers 1.32 per cent, and small wild bean 1 per 

 cent. These 14 foods accounted for 92.53 per cent of 

 the total volume. 



A comparison of the diet of bobwhites in southern 

 Illinois with diets of bobwhites in other states reveals 

 that slugs, bidens, and, particularly, soybean were taken 

 in unusually large quantities in Illinois. 



Most of the foods that made up 1 per cent or more of 



21 



