GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 7 



should be actively put into operation by those most interested in 

 the preservation of game the sportsmen. 



The prairie chicken is valuable not only as game, but as an efficient 

 destroyer of farm pests, and any farmer would profit by having 

 these birds reared on his place. Almost 15 per cent of the bird's food 

 consists of weed seeds, including those of such pests as foxtail grass, 

 smartweeds, and ragweed. More than 10 per cent of the diet con- 

 sists of rose hips. A few other fruits are eaten and more than a 

 fourth of the food consists of leaves, flowers, and shoots, collectively 

 known as browse. The prairie chicken eats a great deal of grain, 

 but takes most of it from stubble. The bird is fond of such mast as 

 hazelnuts and acorns. 



Nearly 15 per cent of the bird's food consists of insects, the bulk 

 of them being grasshoppers. Almost every kind of grasshopper, 

 locust, or cricket appears to be acceptable, and nearly 20 different 

 kinds were identified from the stomachs. The prairie chicken made 

 itself especially useful during the destructive invasions of the Rocky 

 Mountain locust. Sixteen birds examined at that time were found 

 to have eaten 866 locusts. Among other pests eaten by this species 

 are the Colorado potato beetle, 12-spotted cucumber beetle, sugar- 

 beet leaf-beetle, May beetles, cotton worm, army worm, cutworms, 

 the yellow bear caterpillar, and chinch bug. w. L. M. 



CALIFORNIA QUAIL. 



(Lophortyx californica.) 



The California quail (fig. 2) is common and generally distributed 

 over the States west of the Sierra, except at the higher altitudes, and 

 is especially abundant in the fruit-raising sections. Like the bob- 

 white of the East, this quail never goes far from cover, and it delights 

 to dwell on unimproved land where trees and chaparral alternate 

 with small areas of open ground. In settled regions it is somewhat 

 domestic in habits and soon becomes accustomed to living in orchards, 

 gardens, and cultivated grounds. The writer has seen a female 

 sitting upon her eggs in a garden within 30 feet of a house, between 

 which and the nest carriages and foot passengers passed many times 

 each day. In winter a covey frequently feeds with the farmer's 

 chickens, and if not disturbed will continue to do so until pairing 

 time. 



The natural food of the quail consists of the seeds of the vast num- 

 ber of plants known as weeds, with a little foliage of the same, 

 especially in winter, when the leaves are young and tender. Con- 

 sidering how small is the amount of fruit usually found in the stomach 

 of this bird, it is a surprise to learn that it sometimes does serious 

 damage to vineyards. Investigation, however, shows that, as in most 

 other similar cases, the injury results only when too many birds gather 



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