BOB-WHITE 99 



long and loud, "Bob! BOB! WHI-EET!" But the feathered 

 rascal knows very well when the close season is on ; and when 

 the "law is off" he sings very small. 



That many men enjoy quail-shooting is no cause for 

 wonder or reproach. The birds lie close in the edge of the 

 brush until the dogs are ready to tread upon them, when 

 " Burr-r-r-r ! " the covey explodes in the air like a bomb, the 

 gray-and-brown fragments fly in half a dozen directions, and 

 the young sportsman is so "rattled" he is almost sure to miss. 

 A well-scared Quail is no easy mark. 



Quail are rapid breeders, and in protected localities they 

 increase rapidly. A good bird-law in Kansas once resulted 

 in bringing back the vanished flocks, to a surprising extent, 

 but they were soon shot out again. Unfortunately, it is not 

 possible to breed Quail in large numbers in confinement, even 

 with a quarter-section of land for the experiment. Every 

 northern state that has not already done so should at once 

 give its remnant of Quail a five-year close season before it is 

 too late! 



In view of the enormously increased cost of living, partly 

 due to the increase in the cost of all farm products, the case 

 of the Bob-White becomes of practical interest to every 

 consumer. Beside the market-basket and the dinner-pail the 

 merely academic topics of natural history become of secondary 

 importance. Consider this bird and the weeds of the farm. 



To kill weeds costs money hard cash that the farmer 

 earns by toil. Does the farmer put forth strenuous efforts to 

 protect the bird of all birds that does most to help him keep 

 down the weeds? Far from it! All the average farmer thinks 



