64 BOB WHITE AND OTHER QUAILS OF UNITED STATES. 



achs, secured in Texas and New Mexico during August and November. 

 Two of the birds were Ivilled in a patch of cactus. They contained 

 seeds and spines from the prickly pear, acacia, and other seeds, grass 

 blades, and a trace of insects — weevils and other beetles — besides a 

 large quantity of coarse sand and iron ore. The other 7 birds were 

 shot in August. Two had their crops filled with the bulbs of a lily. 

 The others also had eaten lily bulbs, which in the 5 birds made three- 

 fourths of the food. The other food was prickly pear fruit, seeds of 

 legumes and spurges, and such insects as weevils, smooth caterpillars, 

 hairy caterpillars, bugs, crickets, and grasshoppers. Cassin states 

 that the contents of the crop of a specimen sent him from Texas by 

 Captain French " consisted exclusively of fragments of insects, pro- 

 nounced by Doctor I.ieconte to be principally grasshoppers and a 

 specimen of Spectrxm.'^ " According to.Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 

 the Mearns quail appeared quite at home in cultivated fields and 

 stubble of the ranches.'' xVway from civilization it prefers districts 

 covered with open forest, with alternate areas of grass and scattered 

 bushy undergrowth, or hillsides covered with grass and bushes. Its 

 habits vary considerably with the locality. Bendire records that the 

 species lives in rocky ravines and arroyos, but quickly adapts itself 

 to ranch conditions and may be seen running about to gather kernels 

 of scattered grain. He says also that it is fond of acorns, mountain 

 laurel, arbutus, cedar, and other berries, and notes that its large, 

 strong feet are well suited to unearthing the bulbs on which it feeds. 

 He found holes 2 inches deep which it had dug for this purpose. 

 These quail often come out into mountain roads to search for scattered 

 grain and to dust themselves. As they are readily tamed, they could 

 doubtless be successfully introduced into other regions. 



« Illustration of Birds of California, Texas, etc., p. 25, 1850. 

 6 Hist. N. Am. Birds, III, p. 492, 1874. 



