GAME 



BIRDS 



O F 



AMERICA 



farmer's friend. Almost every insect pest of the garden and field is grist 

 for his mill. All spring and summer he slays his thousands and tens of 

 thousands, and in the fall he fattens up on millions of weed seeds. Yes, 

 grain too; but only the waste grain left in the stubble. That is about all 

 the grain he takes — and, after all this, many farmers get the sportsman 

 to pay off the taxes on their farms for the privilege of shooting their 

 little friend! Thus the school taxes are paid, and Bob White settles for 

 the education of the children. 



The pursuit of Bob White is a blessed boon to many jaded and brain- 

 wearied business and professional men. Some believe that they have 

 lengthened their lives by trying to shorten his. How the bird has sur- 

 vived with so many "friends" thirsting for his blood is hard to tell; but 

 for all his trustfulness he is not so easily taken. Many gunners have 

 believed that he can sometimes fool the best dog by "holding his scent." 

 I have seen him several times squat close to the ground on the approach 



of a dog, draw his head flat 



between his shoulders, and 

 "sit tight" while the dog 

 poked along, his nose to 

 the ground, absolutely un- 

 conscious of the where- 

 abouts of the little bird; 

 but let a man appear, and 

 the bird shows more anx- 

 iety and takes greater pains 

 to get away or hide. I 

 have seen him, when 

 alarmed, disappear as if he 

 had put on a coat of invisi- 

 bility, and then, when the 

 danger was past, grow out 

 of the scenery, and walk 

 right* toward me from the 

 very spot on which my 

 powerful glass had been focused all the time. How he does this is 

 another story. 



Why talk about his habits.? Everybody who does not know them 

 can have a good time studying them; for his life is open for all to see. 

 What concerns us most is how we can make this useful, companionable 

 friend to man more plentiful. In the District of Columbia they have 

 solved the problem by forbidding shooting for the last few years, and there 

 in sonie places the chorus of bob whites sounds like that of the little frogs 

 in springtime. A close season for five years on this bird would do more 



YOUNG BOB WHITES 



The birds in this group are seven weeks old. 



