Bobwhite 



71 



Bogardus observed many years ago the mechanical function of winter cover: 



"The hedges . . . are of great use to the quail as places of refuge and 

 security when pursued by hawks . . . They used to have a very hard time 

 of it in Illinois in severe winters. There was no protection from hawks, by which 

 they were constantly harried and destroyed; and there being next to no cover, 

 they used to be frozen to death in bevies . . . The hedges now afford very 

 great protection and preserve the lives of thousands which would otherwise cer- 

 tainly perish of cold and starvation in their absence. They break the force of the 

 wind, and furnish snug lying-places for the birds in hard weather." 



It is interesting that Bogardus should consider the hedgeless prairie grass 

 of the old days as being "next to no cover." If he could see the prairie now, 

 with neither hedges nor grass! 



The present problem is to persuade farmers to restore some kind of usable 

 winter cover, even though it fall somewhat short of the Bogardian ideal of hedges, 

 standing corn, grass, and weeds. It must be something which the quail are willing 

 to use, and especially something which the farmer is willing to plant or let grow. 

 Here we may take advantage of another accident of farmer psychology. The 

 coniferous windbreak or shelter-belt, artificially planted and consisting of exotic 

 evergreens, is somehow regarded as an asset and an ornament to the farm, even 

 though it consumes just as wide a strip of corn land as the largest osage hedge 

 of former days. 



Coniferous Shelterbelts. Thousands of prairie farms once had shelter- 

 belts, usually to the windward of the house and outbuildings. Norway spruce 

 was the most common species, although Scotch pine, white cedar, and white pine 

 were occasionally used. From 1870 to 1890 almost every prairie farmer who 

 took a pride in his place planted one of these shelterbelts. By 1900 the spruces 

 had grown to the ideal size for sheltering quail. Their wide branches swept the 

 ground, and offered a dense and prickly refuge which snow only served to make 

 denser. At this time most of the old shelterbelts have either died, or been pruned 

 up so as to destroy their game value. 



TABLE 15. History of coniferous shelter belt plantings 



