118 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



latter part of September. Eggs have been found at Leighton, 

 June 14 (18 eggs) and July 22 (14 eggs) ; Autaugaville, July 2 

 (8 fresh eggs) and September 19 (11 fresh eggs) ; Prattville, 

 May 30 (11 fresh eggs) ; York, June 9 (17 eggs) ; Mount 

 Weogufka, May 22 (17 eggs) ; and Abbeville, June 10 

 (15 eggs). At Leighton, September 27, 1889, McCk)rmack 

 noted a covey of young hardly able to fly. 



General habits. — ^The bob-white is too well known to need 

 any extended description of its habits. Rearing their young 

 in the meadows of almost every farm in the State, the birds 

 are constantly seen and heard by dwellers in the country and 

 if given complete protection they often become tame enough 

 to feed with chickens in the barnyard. They remain in flocks 

 throughout the winter and until the last of April or even into 

 May, Frequenting both grass fields and cultivated lands, they 

 often take to the woods or swamps when hunted and are then 

 difficult to flush without a good dog. 



Bob-white has many enemies to contend with, notably, 

 foxes, snakes, crows, and the Cooper hawk. Many broods are 

 destroyed by mowing machines, and hunting dogs ranging at 

 will over the fields constitute a serious menace to the success- 

 ful rearing of the young birds. But in spite of these and 

 many other drawbacks, this sturdy little bird has managed to 

 hold its own fairly well. Instances of the male bird assuming 

 the duties of incubation on the death of the female are not 

 unusual. Bendire records one case from Greensboro, on the 

 authority of Dr. Avery,t and another instance came under 

 my observation at Abbeville, June 10, 1911. In this case the 

 male bird was shot as it flushed from the nest, the failure of 

 the female to take his place seeming to indicate that she had 

 been previously killed. 



Food habit?. — An exhaustive study of the food of the bob- 

 white by the Biological Survey showed the bird to be highly 

 beneficial and worthy of protection by the farmer. The bird's 

 food is summarized as follows : 



The food for the year as a whole, calculated by volume and 

 determined by analysis of the contents of 918 stomachs, con- 



tBendire, Chas., Life histories of North American birds [toI. 1], p. 5, 1892. 



