THE BOB WHITE. 5 



is very attentive to the setting hen, often making excursions into the grass after 

 food, apparently for her benefit." 



That the male Bob White takes the whole duty of incubation upon himself, 

 should some accident befall the female, which unfortunately happens only too 

 often, is conclusively proven by the following statement, from Dr. William C 

 Avery, of Greensboro, Alabama, who writes me as follows: "In June, 1886, 

 while on a visit to Dr. J. M. Pickett, of Cedarville, Alabama, this gentleman 

 informed me of having seen a male Bob White incubating; he had visited the 

 nest at various times during the day, and on different days, and always found 

 the male on the nest. Wishing to be an eye witness of so interesting a phe- 

 nomenon, I rode several miles with the doctor to see this male Bob White on 

 his nest. There we found him, faithfully warming his treasures, but not into 

 life. The eggs were never hatched. Dr. Pickett went frequently to the place, 

 until long after the period of incubation had elapsed, and finding that the eggs 

 would not hatch, he destroyed them, to prevent the useless occupation of the 

 nest by the male. The female had probably been dead some hours, and the 

 eggs were cold before the male took the nest, hence they did not hatch. How 

 different is he in his nature from some other gallinaceous birds, which only seek 

 the female when impelled by sexual desire. I know no other bird that will 

 take the nest and faithfully brood upon the eggs when the female has been 

 killed." 1 



These birds are very sociable in disposition, and, when not constantly dis- 

 turbed or shot at, become quite tame and may frequently be seen about dwell- 

 ing houses, barns, and in gardens, especially during the late fall, winter, and 

 early spring. As soon as the young are hatched they become more shy and 

 retiring. The young leave the nest as soon as hatched, and have been seen 

 running about with pieces of the shell sticking to them. They are faithfully 

 cared for by both parents, who make use of all sorts of artifices, such as feign- 

 ing lameness and fluttering along just out of reach of the intruder, to lure him 

 away from the young brood; the young scattering, in the mean time, and hiding 

 in the grass and under leaves at the danger signal of the parents, and 

 remaining quiet until called together again by either of them, as soon as 

 all danger is passed. When they are about two or three weeks old, the male 

 takes charge of the first brood, while the female begins to lay her second 

 clutch of eggs. This is usually a smaller one than the first, averaging only 

 about twelve eggs. The young are at first exclusively fed on insect food, and 

 later on small seeds, grains, and berries. 



Aside from insects of various kinds, the favorite food of the Bob White 

 consists of buckwheat, wheat, rye, oats, the seed of the locust, wild pease, tick- 

 trefoil (Desmodium), smartweeds (Polygonum), sunflower, and bitterweed, the 

 partridge berry (Michella), wintergreen (Gaultheria) T nannyberries (Viburnum), 



1 The fact that the male Bob White takes occasionally the entire duties of incubation on himself, should 

 the female be killed, appears to be not an unusual occurrence with this species, at least two similar instances 

 having come under the observation of other parties. 



