Bobwhite 49 



III. EVIDENCE FROM OTHER REGIONS 



A. T. Wayne, 



Ornithologist) 



North Carolina 



Quotation from "Birds of South Carolina" 

 (1910): "I have seen late in the autumn, 

 upon the approach of sunset, a covey fly 

 high in the air and depart in a southerly 

 direction. These birds were undoubtedly 

 migrating. If all the partridges which are 

 annually hatched and raised were to re- 

 main on the plantations where they were 

 bred, the crops of grain would be seriously 

 injured." 



The southerly direction observed in these flights may have been accidental. There 

 is no evidence that the fall shuffle is oriented in any particular direction. 



While the evidence does not make it necessary to accept migration as a fact, 

 it seems not improbable that in pre-settlement days there was a movement of 

 quail from the edges of the then bare prairies of northern Missouri to the wooded 

 foothills of the Ozarks. Winter food and winter brush cover were doubtless 

 both more plentiful on the Ozark border. The same purpose would have been 

 accomplished, however, by a lateral shift to the wooded river bottoms of the 

 prairies. A lateral movement of this kind still takes place, as will be demon- 

 strated in a subsequent caption. 



If a "migration" off the prairie once existed, it doubtless tended to decrease 

 with the introduction of osage hedges and grain feed. This may account for the 

 greater prevalence of a belief in migration among old-timers, and for the fact 

 that many younger observers doubt the existence of migration at any time in any 

 degree. 



No evidence of migration, past or present, was encountered in the Ozarks or 

 on the prairie of southwestern Missouri. 



The Fall "Shuffle." While there is no conclusive evidence of an oriented 

 seasonal movement in quail, there is abundant evidence of a short-range un- 

 oriented movement which may be described as a shift or shuffle. The evidence 

 bearing on the date and nature of this movement is summarized in Table 11. It 

 shows that 



(1) Not only laymen, but trained ornithologists have seen quail in cities 

 and other unaccustomed locations, usually during October. 



(2) Hunters, particularly in the Ozarks, report a marked difference between 

 seasons as to whether quail are found in the woods or in fields. 



(3) Hunters and farmers agree that prairie quail often shift to the nearest 

 brushy river breaks or hill lands for wintering. 



In addition, farmers who feed grain to stock all agree that there is an influx 

 of quail to such grain feeding farms during the winter. Only one instance 

 (Curtis Weeks) is given in the table, but a dozen others could be cited. 



It is worthy of note that all of the cases bearing an October date are in or 

 near northeast Missouri, while all of the cases from other sections of the State 

 show a late fall or winter date. It is also worthy of note that the evidence of the 

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