6 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



wild grapes, and other small berries. In the late fall they often feed on the 

 seeds of the skunk cabbage, acorns of different kinds, as well as on beech- 

 nuts. 



Mr. W. M. Wolfe, of Kearney, Nebraska, writes me: "Here, the male takes 

 the young to the wheat fields and stubble early in July; at first, they return to 

 the brush for the night, but as soon as harvesting fairly commences they spend 

 all their time in the fields, huddling together at night in the open. Here they 

 form a circle with their heads out and crowd close together. The male remains 

 outside the ring and close at hand. The female, after raising her second brood, 

 takes the chicks to the stubble as soon as they are able to fly. The broods 

 unite in September, and all care on the part of the parents ceases soon after, 

 though they all remain together until the following spring." 



Aside from the many enemies that the Bob White has to contend with 

 during the breeding season, the mowing machine is probably one of the greatest 

 factors of destruction, as many brooding birds and eggs are annually destroyed 

 through its agency. 



The males commence singing about May 1 ; their song is the well-known 

 "Bob White," or "Ah, Bob White." One of their love notes may be translated 

 as "Pease most ripe," another call as "No more wet," or "More wet." A shrill 

 "wee-teeh" is used as a note of warning, and one to assemble when the covey 

 has dispersed resembles "Quoi-hee, quoi-hee." A subdued clucking when 

 undisturbed, and a rapidly repeated twitter when suddenly surprised, are fre- 

 quently used as well. 



In the fall, in certain portions of the country, these birds, while not actually 

 migratory, leave the localities where they raised their broods for others, possibly 

 on account of the desire for some particular kind of food. Mr. Gr. E. Beyer 

 writes me that in the vicinity of Madisonville, Louisiana, the Bob Whites leave 

 the hammock lands in the fall and retreat considerable distances into the open 

 pine woods, along small water courses, returning only when nesting time 

 approaches. 



The eggs of the Bob White vary from a round ovate to subpyriform in 

 shape, are dull white in color, slightly glossy, and often partially stained a 

 buffy yellow by contact with the grass or soil on which they lie. The shell is 

 smooth and remarkably strong and thick for the size of the egg. Their average 

 size is about 30 by 24 millimetres, the largest egg in the U. S. National 

 Museum collection measiu-ing 32.5 by 25, the smallest 26 by 22.5 millimetres. 



The type specimen. No. 12786, PI. 1, Fig. 1, selected from a set of ten 

 eggs, was collected by Dr. William Wood at East Windsor Hill, Connecticut, 

 June 14, 1866. 



