collected in 1950 and 1951 combined, table A, Appendix. 

 Foods identified as animal totaled 6.03 per cent and 

 grit made up 0.02 per cent. In addition to material iden- 

 tified as plant or animal was organic material of unde- 

 termined origin amounting to 0.01 per cent of the total 

 contents. 



A comparison of the dietary pattern for 1950 with 

 that for 1951 revealed some differences in the percent- 



Q 

 O 

 O 



YELLOW 



FOXTAIL 



9.12% 



ACORNS 

 9.55% 



DESMODIUM 

 12.11% 



SMALL 

 WILD BEAN 

 12.35 % 



SMOOTH 

 CRABGRASS 

 12.64 % 



BIDENS 

 18.98 % 



SOYBEAN 

 22.08% 



COMMON RAGWEED 

 26.40% 



CORN 

 28.85 % 



KOREAN and JAPANESE LESPEDEZAS 

 42.23 % 



Fig. 4.— Frequency of occurrence (in per cent) of the 

 10 foods which were found in the greatest number of bobwhite 

 crops in southern Illinois in the hunting seasons of 1950 and 

 1951 combined. 



ages of food identified as plant or animal. In 1950 the 

 plant materials constituted 95.22 per cent and the ani- 

 mal materials constituted 4.75 per cent of the total vol- 

 ume. In 1951 the plant materials totaled 92.21 per cent 

 and the animal materials 7.77 per cent. 



Each of six families of plants formed 1 per cent or 

 more of the volume of plant food and the six together 

 totaled 97.58 per cent of the plant food in the years 

 1950 and 1951 combined, table B, Appendix (scientific 

 names of food plants are included in this table). Leg- 

 umes made up 39.22 per cent of the plant food volume; 

 representatives occurred 4,507 times (the total of all 

 occurrences of each food identified as a member of the 



legume family). Soybean, Korean and Japanese lespe- 

 dezas, desmodium, cowpea, and small wild bean were 

 the most common legumes. Korean and Japanese lespe- 

 dezas were represented in almost as many crops as all 

 the other members of the family combined. In this study 

 Korean and Japanese lespedezas were grouped as one 

 food because of the difficulty in distinguishing between 

 the two species when the husks were missing or when 

 the seeds were immature. 



Grasses comprised 37.83 per cent of the plant foods, 

 with representatives appearing 3,743 times. Com, wheat, 

 yellow foxtail, and smooth crabgrass were represented 

 inappreciable amounts. The number of species of grasses 

 represented exceeded that of any other family, but most 

 of the grasses did not occur in large quantities. 



The beech family ranked third by volume. Oaks 

 (acorns), the only representatives of this family, formed 

 7.65 per cent of the plant food volume and occurred 

 440 times. 



Members of the composite family accounted for 6.91 

 per cent of the plant food volume and representatives 

 occurred 2,323 times. Three composites — common rag- 

 weed, bidens, and lance-leaved ragweed — were present 

 in significant quantities. 



The laurel family ranked fifth in volumetric order. 

 White sassafras, the only laurel represented, formed 4.04 

 per cent of the plant food volume and occurred 241 times 

 in the crops collected. 



One other family, touch-me-not, formed nearly 2 per 

 cent of the total plant food volume. Jewelweed, the 

 only member represented, comprised 1.93 per cent of 

 the plant food volume and occurred 399 times. Three 

 other families — cashew, spurge, and sour gum —account- 

 ed for 0.52, 0.51, and 0.47 per cent by volume respec- 

 tively of the plant foods. 



Two animal classes. Gastropoda and Insecta, each 

 made up 1 per cent or more of the volume of the bob- 

 white diet. The Gastropoda (snails, slugs, limpets, and 

 whelks) formed 48.64 per cent of the animal food and 

 occurred 364 times, table C, Appendix. Of the slugs 

 the Philomycidae occurred most often. Insects com- 

 prised 44.56 per cent of the animal food volume, with 

 representatives appearing 1,527 times. The order Or- 

 thoptera (grasshoppers, cockroaches, and crickets) ac- 

 counted for approximately one-half of the insect volume 

 but occurred only about one-sixth as often as all other 

 insect items combined. Three other classes, Arach- 

 noidea (scorpions, harvestmen, spiders, and mites), 

 Chilopoda (centipedes), and Diplopoda (millipedes), 

 were of little consequence in terms of volume. 



Food Items 



The foods found in the crops for both years were 

 listed under 187 separate designations, table D, Appen- 



