Bobwhite 39 



Comparing the Ozark and prairie types in Missouri, one may deduce that the 

 Ozark woods which are quail-less for lack of feed, about offset the prairie farms 

 which are quail-less for lack of cover. 



The most important deduction of all is yet to be mentioned, although it is 

 apparent not only from Chart 1, but also from Map 6 and Table 5. This is the 

 absence of samples denser than one acre per bird. The significance of this will 

 be discussed later under the caption on "saturation point." 



Abundance in Open and Closed Areas. It is unfortunate that a more 

 thorough sampling of closed States like Ohio and Iowa cannot be presented. This 

 would furnish an accurate measure of the extent to which quail benefit from year- 

 long closed seasons, and of whether this benefit extends to those counties in which 

 cover is deficient, or the environment otherwise unfavorable. It is hoped that 

 some other agency will gather actual evidence to show the effects of long periods 

 of total closure. 



A rough comparison follows, covering Missouri only, between (a) samples 

 situated in counties closed to hunting for several years past under Missouri's 

 local option law, or situated on farms and refuges permanently closed by posting; 

 and (b) samples on the nearest adjacent territory open to hunting, and (c) the 

 State as a whole. 



Look now for the highest number in each column, which tells which density 

 class is the most frequent in each of the three classes of quail ground. It appears 

 that the most frequent density on closed ground is thinner than the most frequent 

 on nearby open areas, or than in the State as a whole ; also that the heaviest density 

 classes are absent from the closed ground. This apparent advantage for open 

 ground is probably not real, however. The number of samples of closed ground 

 is insufficient, and their poor showing probably reflects the physical "accident" 

 that most of these samples are refuges which are poor soil and hence over-wooded, 

 and prairie farms in closed counties where quail were gone before the county was 

 closed, and where closure alone cannot restore quail in any event. 



My general impressions are that in closed States like Ohio and Iowa quail 

 are somewhat more abundant than in open States, where the cover and food con- 

 ditions are equal, but where cover and food are deficient quail are just as scarce in 

 the closed States as if there were no closure. These impressions, of course, are 

 offered merely as opinion and not as evidence. There is great need of a thorough 

 study of the effect of yearlong closed seasons unaccompanied by management. 



