~I 
labile 2.-—-Data. on mowing of red clover and alfalfa and 
Heabehineg. of usr nests, Calhoun County, Iliinois, 1955. 
RereCen tao Number of 
Red Clover Per Cent of Alfalfa Mowed Nests 
eek Mowed First Cutting Second Cutting Hatched — 
May 16-23 --- 4,4 --- O 
peers! 0.6 60.0 sos 3 
June 1-8 15.0 50.6 --- 4 
9-16 75.0 --- --- 2 
17-24 aller --- --- O 
June 2o-July 2 --- --- 8.5 6 
July 5-10 --- --- 76.7 5 
11-18 --- --- 15.0 1 
19-25 = --- “-- a 
Alfalfa.--Forty-three farms produced 249 acres of alfalfa. 
Forty-two acres escaped early cutting, but by mid July all but 6 
acres had been mowed at least once. Table 2 shows the first cutting 
extending from May 16 to June 8; the second cutting extended from 
fame 2o cto duly 16. It should be noted that the peak of the> first 
cutting was reached 2 weeks earlier in alfalfa than in red clover. 
When the dates of alfalfa mowing are compared with those 
for tae hatching of-20.quatl' nests, table 2, it: is apparent that 
only a small percentage of nests hatched previous to completion of 
the first mowing and that few renesting birds would escape nest 
destruction by the second cutting. 
The number of bobwhite nests found in alfalfa, as compared 
Go those in other types of cover, is given in table 1. Twenty-four 
nests in alfalfa were destroyed or deserted as a result of mowing. 
However, there is one case of a quail returning to a cut-over nest 
to hatch the eggs. 
Sweet Clover.--In 1938, sweet clover was grown on 15 farms, 
where it totaled 175 acres. Eighty-four acres of this were cut; the 
remaining 91 acres were left for use as a soil conserver and soil 
builder. Dates of mowing of this crop ranged from May 27 to July 2, 
Wath a mean of June 15. Of the two nests discovered in this cover, 
both were destroyed by mowing. A small percentage of quail nests 
reached the hatching stage before the peak of cutting of sweet clover 
in mid June. 
