';' Bobwhtte 79 



The survey encountered one report of death by sleeted plumage. F. C. 

 Gamm, a farmer-sportsman in Pike County, Missouri, found a covey in the 

 winter of 1927-28 which could not fly because of frozen sleet adhering to their 

 wings. They were still alive when he found them, but would doubtless have 

 perished. Mr. Gamm thinks that they were snowed under while roosting, and 

 that their body heat caused a drip which froze on their wings. It hardly seems 

 probable, however, that body heat could melt snow, and at the same time allow 

 it to freeze on the plumage, at a point closer to the bird than where it melted. It 

 seems more likely that these birds in some way got their wings wet, after which 

 ice could have accumulated on them in numerous ways. 



The evidence of loss through hail is only circumstantial. A short crop was 

 observed in Perry County, Missouri, in spots which had experienced a severe 

 hailstorm in June. 



The probabilities are that all weather losses except starvation and drowning 

 of nests and broods are of minor consequence. 



Distribution of Winter Losses. Winter losses predominate in the 

 northern tier of States, and nesting losses in the southern tier. It is believed that 

 nesting losses are most severe on flat topography and heavy soils. Winter losses 

 do not decrease southward as much as one would expect, in view of the de- 

 creasing snowfall. The reason for this is that sleet storms increase in frequency 

 and severity as one progresses southward. Only the Lowland Belt, in the ex- 

 treme southern projection of the north central region, could be considered as 

 south of the zone of winter losses in quail. For this reason organized winter 

 feeding is a necessary part of quail management throughout the region. 



Degree of Winter Loss; Recovery. While winter losses sufficiently 

 severe to imprint themselves on the mind of sportsmen appear to be as frequent 

 in the southern tier of States as in the northern, there can be no question that 

 the period necessary for recovery, which is presumably a measure of the severity 

 of the loss, decreases southward. In the Agricultural Belt and southward, sports- 

 men almost invariably report recovery of normal abundance during the second 

 breeding season, whereas in the northern tier of States there are abundant records 

 that quail were nearly absent for as long as 10 years, or that recovery was ac- 

 complished only by replanting. Thus Mershon (1923) states that quail were 

 hardly heard of for 10 or 15 years after their great abundance near Saginaw about 

 1870. He says they would become plentiful for two or three years, and then 

 again disappear. His description almost suggests the irruptive behavior already 

 described in parts of Wisconsin, and suggests that on the northern edge of the 

 range disease may combine with hard winters to produce fluctuations of such wide 

 amplitude and long length. 



The survey was unsuccessful in finding among sportsmen any actual measure- 

 ments of the degree of winter loss in any single case. Estimates are easily 

 obtained, but hardly worth printing. The University of Wisconsin,- however, 

 made such a measurement last year. 



