78 Game Survey of the North Central States 



killed not only quail but also sharptail grouse. Its effects in the form of limbs 

 torn from trees were visible in any woodlot for several years afterward. 



Another "big sleet" occurred in Missouri, December 16, 1924, and regis- 

 tered itself in a shortage in the 1925 quail crop throughout the State. 



These extraordinary storms are worth recording not merely for their effect 

 on quail, but because any historical investigation of game which involves com- 

 piling the recollections of old-timers will have to use them as landmarks. The 

 old-timers will recollect, not the year of any event, but how many years before 

 or after "cold Friday" or the "bluebird storm." 



Cause of Winter Losses. Chart 2 makes it possible to compare the 

 winter losses in Missouri and Wisconsin with total snowfall and coldest winters. 

 In Wisconsin a comparison was also made with the record of snow on the 

 ground at any one time. To avoid crowding, this record was omitted from the 

 chart. 



The idea behind the comparison is that if losses frequently coincide with 

 winters which were cold but had little snow, then cold as such is indicated as a 

 cause of loss. If, on the other hand, losses are found to coincide with snowfall, 

 or combinations of snowfall and cold, but not with cold alone, then the indica- 

 tion is that cold alone is not a cause of loss. 



The detailed figures expressing these comparisons will not be repeated 

 here. It will suffice to give the conclusion, which is that depth and duration of 

 snow, with or without cold, coincides with losses much more frequently than cold 

 alone, and hence is the principal cause of winter losses in quail. 



The analysis of the chart also shows that there is a frequent coincidence be- 

 tween quail-killing winters, grouse-killing winters, and grouse cycles. The details 

 will be given in a subsequent chapter. The reason for this coincidence is not 

 understood. There may be a tendency for protracted snow and cold to accentuate 

 disease in both species. It is recommended that sportsmen who find winter-killed 

 quail, or supposedly winter-killed individuals of any other gallinaceous species, 

 submit the carcasses to competent scientists to be examined for disease. There is 

 a possibility that the quail irruption of 1916 may have been terminated by disease, 

 rather than by the hard winter of 1917-18. 



The survey encountered only one instance where quail in good condition met 

 death by freezing. This was observed and reported by Errington (1930). A 

 covey of quail had sought warmth on a fermenting manure pile where their 

 plumage got wet. Upon being flushed they scattered and froze. 



Many sportsmen believe that rabbits and predators scatter quail at night, 

 and thus induce death by freezing. No evidence was found to support this 

 theory. Coon hunters report that roosting covies flush more readily at night than 

 they do in the daytime. 



There are many records in ornithological and sporting literature of roosting 

 covies imprisoned by snow or sleet, which fell during the night and froze to the 

 vegetation around and above the roost, thus imprisoning the birds. 



