GENERAL HABITS. 13 



GENERAL HABITS OF THE BOBWHITE. 



The habits of bobwhite, like those of many other birds, vary con- 

 siderably, and the following, observed by E. W. Nelson, is a case in 

 point. In 1875 the Wabash bottoms near Mount Carmel, 111., were 

 covered with a magnificent forest, quite tropical in the size and luxu- 

 riant growth of trees and other vegetation. Scattered here and there 

 through the forest were small clearings planted to corn. Bobwhites 

 were found about all of these clearings, and the males were commonly 

 heard calling from the tops of tall trees in the edge of the bordering 

 forest, and on more than one occasion were stalked and shot in the 

 midst of the woods from tree tops more than 100 feet from the ground. 

 When flushed in the cornfields the coveys dashed away into the forest, 

 where they took refuge in the tree tops, thence sending forth their 

 rallying call notes. 



There appears to be a tendency among bobwhites, at least in some 

 regions, to a local migration. In certain sections, as in Virginia and 

 Maryland, they commonly leave their summer homes on the approach 

 of winter and congregate near the larger watercourses. In an old 

 number of the American Sportsman Lewis refers to this fall move- 

 ment, and says : "At this period the birds are said to be running or 

 traveling, and will not lie to a dog; and to pursue is lost time, as it 

 will be found utterly impossible to keep up with them, no matter with 

 what speed you attempt it." 



The habits of the bobwhite during the hunting season are well 

 known. The birds move about most actively and feed in the early 

 morning and late afternoon. The best shooting is to be had the hour 

 before sunset, in the places where the birds have decided to spend the 

 night. They roost on the ground, forming a solid ring with tails in 

 and heads out. In Virginia and jMaryland the roosting places are 

 almost never in the woods, though in Mecklenburg County, Va., the 

 writer has found them in grassy, briery little clearings among pine 

 woods. At ]Marshall Hall the birds were found roosting in the edges 

 of woodland, orchards, patches of ragweed in wheat stubble, cornfields, 

 truck plats, broomsedge, dewberry and blackberry tangles, pastures, 

 and fence corners. In Massachusetts Edward A. Preble found no 

 roosts in the open fields, but found them among scrub oaks and in tall 

 pine forests. Bobwhites habitually use a roosting ground again and 

 again. A covey of a dozen, found the middle of November, 1899, at 

 Marshall Hall, resorted to a corner of a peach orchard for eight con- 

 secutive nights, and during December, 1902, a covey of fifteen on the 

 Roanoke River bottom used a narrow strip of cockleburr, ragweed, 

 and smartweed for ten consecutive nights. It is interesting to note 

 that, although quail seek the woods for shelter from enemies during 

 the day, they generally regard the open as safer at night. 



