The American Bobwhite.



167



be remembered also that if it were not for foxes, hawks, and

trespassing pot hunters the birds would be more abundant

and their services correspondingly greater. Insects form

about one-third of the Bobwhite’s diet from June 1 to August

31 ; and a calculation similar to the one employed above

shows that 340 tons of insects are destroyed during that

period.”


In spite of the fact that the Bobwhite is a hardy and pro¬

lific species there is evidence to show that its numbers are sadly

decreasing in almost every part of its range except where strict

protection has been extended to it. There are several reasons

for this, the chief being apparently “shooting out of season,

excessive shooting in season, and unrestricted shooting and

trapping for market.” In most of the States however the bird is

now protected for the greater part of the year, the open season

varying from twenty-one days in Ohio to seven months in

Mississippi. “ Stringent laws against trapping the Bobwhite

have been enacted, but such legislation should permit legitimate

trapping for purposes of propagation.”


Very little appears to have been done in the way of en¬

couraging this species to breed in captivity. Isolated cases in

which captive birds have laid and young have been hatched are

mentioned ; but there can be no doubt whatever that with in¬

telligent care these Ouails could be reared very extensively in

properly constructed vermin-proof enclosures. The species is

known to be prolific and to lay eggs freely even in quite small

aviaries, and if kept in comparatively large wire enclosures in

which its natural surroundings could be imitated, the species

would undoubtedly rear its young quite successfully. There are

several methods by which insect food can be obtained and sup¬

plied abundantly to the breeding birds, and without which

success can hardly be looked for. There is no reason why

twenty-five pairs of Bobwhites, kept each in a separate wire run

and treated with intelligence, should not, in one season, be

responsible for at least two hundred and fifty birds.


The report deals exhaustively with the various seeds and

insects which form the natural food of the Bobwhite, and of the

other species of Quails inhabiting the United States. D. S-S.



