﻿12 
  BOB 
  WHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  on 
  May 
  29, 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  downy 
  chicks 
  on 
  July 
  6." 
  Between 
  the 
  end 
  

   of 
  June 
  and 
  last 
  of 
  August 
  seven 
  pairs 
  of 
  birds 
  were 
  found 
  there 
  

   which 
  had 
  recently 
  mated 
  or 
  were 
  intubating. 
  This 
  was 
  shown 
  by 
  

   ihe 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  cock 
  birds 
  were 
  flushed 
  thirty-six 
  times 
  and 
  the 
  

   hens 
  only 
  four 
  times. 
  During 
  the 
  same 
  season 
  five 
  nests 
  were 
  found 
  

   between 
  July 
  15 
  and 
  19 
  at 
  Sandy 
  Spring, 
  Mel., 
  less 
  than 
  20 
  miles 
  

   away. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  nests 
  contained 
  24 
  eggs. 
  Even 
  larger 
  clutches 
  

   are 
  recorded, 
  and 
  one 
  nest 
  found 
  at 
  Woodstock, 
  Ohio, 
  is 
  reported 
  

   to 
  have 
  contained 
  42 
  eggs. 
  a 
  Such 
  large 
  clutches 
  probably 
  are 
  the 
  

   product 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  bird. 
  In 
  1903 
  nesting 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  

   later 
  than 
  in 
  1902, 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  eggs 
  found 
  were 
  discovered 
  July 
  10. 
  

   The 
  farmers 
  at 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  sa}^ 
  that 
  they 
  usually 
  find 
  the 
  first 
  

   downy 
  chicks 
  during 
  wheat 
  harvest, 
  usually 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  June. 
  

   A 
  number 
  of 
  broods 
  of 
  chicks 
  were 
  seen 
  about 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  from 
  

   July 
  to 
  September. 
  

  

  The 
  newly 
  hatched 
  young 
  have 
  chocolate-streaked 
  heads, 
  and 
  re- 
  

   semble 
  small 
  black 
  and 
  red 
  bantam 
  chicks. 
  Whenever. 
  these 
  newly 
  

   hatched 
  chicks 
  remain 
  motionless 
  their 
  protective 
  coloration 
  renders 
  

   them 
  invisible 
  unless 
  one 
  makes 
  a 
  most 
  careful 
  search. 
  

  

  From 
  information 
  at 
  hand 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  main 
  breeding 
  season 
  

   for 
  bobwhite 
  in 
  the 
  Northern 
  States, 
  including 
  the 
  country 
  about 
  

   Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  is 
  during 
  May, 
  June, 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  half 
  of 
  July. 
  

   Florida 
  birds 
  begin 
  to 
  breed 
  regularly 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  April 
  (though 
  some 
  

   are 
  much 
  earlier), 
  and 
  continue 
  nesting 
  till 
  well 
  into 
  June. 
  Texas 
  

   birds 
  nest 
  mainly 
  in 
  April 
  and 
  May, 
  but 
  some 
  nest 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  Septem- 
  

   ber. 
  Throughout 
  its 
  range 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  breed 
  earlier 
  and 
  others 
  

   later 
  than 
  the 
  main 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  species, 
  and 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  second 
  

   or 
  even 
  third 
  broods 
  may 
  lengthen 
  the 
  season. 
  Robert 
  Ridgway 
  

   found 
  a 
  clutch 
  of 
  freshly 
  deposited 
  eggs 
  in 
  southern 
  Illinois 
  on 
  

   October 
  16, 
  and 
  H. 
  C. 
  Munger 
  found 
  another 
  set 
  in 
  Missouri 
  in 
  Jan- 
  

   uary, 
  the 
  parent 
  being 
  afterwards 
  found 
  frozen 
  on 
  the 
  nest. 
  Authen- 
  

   tic 
  records 
  from 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  show 
  that 
  bobwhite 
  has 
  

   been 
  known 
  to 
  breed, 
  at 
  least 
  occasionally, 
  somewhere 
  in- 
  its 
  range 
  

   every 
  month 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  except 
  December. 
  This 
  seems 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  

   under 
  certain 
  circumstances 
  bobwhite, 
  like 
  the 
  domestic 
  hen, 
  will 
  

   lay 
  a 
  clutch 
  of 
  eggs 
  at 
  any 
  time 
  of 
  year. 
  

  

  The 
  occasional 
  presence 
  with 
  the 
  female 
  of 
  young 
  of 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  

   sizes 
  appears 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  broods 
  are 
  sometimes 
  raised 
  

   in 
  a 
  season, 
  but 
  we 
  lack 
  definite 
  information 
  on 
  this 
  subject. 
  Major 
  

   Bendire 
  gives 
  twenty-four 
  days 
  as 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  incubation. 
  The 
  

   male 
  is 
  reported 
  as 
  sometimes 
  assisting 
  in 
  this 
  duty. 
  

  

  a 
  Forest 
  and 
  Stream, 
  X, 
  p. 
  399, 
  1878. 
  

  

  

  