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  2 
  BOBWHITE 
  AXD 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  king 
  snake 
  (Lampropeltis 
  getula) 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  eat 
  a 
  clutch 
  of 
  

   eggs. 
  At 
  Falls 
  Church, 
  Va., 
  Harvey 
  Riley 
  captured 
  a 
  black 
  snake 
  

   (Bascanion 
  constrictor) 
  which 
  disgorged 
  a 
  newly 
  hatched 
  bobwhite. 
  

   Reference 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  already 
  to 
  the 
  marked 
  decrease 
  in 
  the 
  

   number 
  of 
  bobwhites 
  on 
  the 
  230-acre 
  farm 
  at 
  Marshall 
  Hall, 
  from 
  

   fifty-odd 
  birds 
  in 
  July 
  to 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  dozen 
  in 
  December, 
  though 
  not 
  

   more 
  than 
  a 
  dozen 
  had 
  been 
  shot. 
  This 
  decrease 
  was 
  probably 
  due, 
  

   at 
  least 
  in 
  part, 
  to 
  gray 
  foxes; 
  for 
  in 
  August 
  and 
  September 
  these 
  

   animals 
  were 
  numerous, 
  and 
  often 
  came 
  after 
  the 
  chickens 
  within 
  a 
  

   stone's 
  throw 
  of 
  the 
  farmhouse. 
  Other 
  predaceous 
  mammals 
  and 
  

   birds 
  of 
  prey 
  were 
  not 
  numerous, 
  but 
  foxes 
  frequently 
  were 
  seen 
  at 
  

   midday 
  searching 
  through 
  pastures 
  where 
  there 
  were 
  broods 
  of 
  bob- 
  

   whites. 
  It 
  must 
  be 
  easy 
  for 
  a 
  fox 
  to 
  exterminate 
  a 
  whole 
  brood 
  of 
  

   newly 
  hatched 
  bobwhites, 
  and 
  no 
  difficult 
  task 
  to 
  catch 
  them 
  even 
  

   when 
  three-fourths 
  grown. 
  Minks 
  and 
  weasels, 
  when 
  numerous, 
  are 
  

   probably 
  even 
  more 
  destructive 
  to 
  young 
  bobwhites 
  than 
  to 
  domestic 
  

   poultry. 
  The 
  domestic 
  cat 
  that 
  takes 
  to 
  foraging 
  in 
  woods 
  and 
  

   fields 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  menace 
  and 
  should 
  be 
  shot 
  on 
  suspicion, 
  for 
  it 
  undoubt- 
  

   edly 
  preys 
  on 
  game 
  birds, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  do 
  on 
  song 
  birds 
  and 
  

   young 
  rabbits. 
  

  

  In 
  Maryland 
  and 
  Virginia 
  the 
  writer 
  has 
  found 
  the 
  crow 
  plunder- 
  

   ing 
  nests 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  and 
  in 
  these 
  States 
  the 
  crow 
  is 
  an 
  

   enemy 
  also 
  of 
  poultry. 
  Doctor 
  Fisher 
  states 
  in 
  his 
  Hawks 
  and 
  Owls 
  

   of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  forty-odd 
  species 
  which 
  he 
  studied 
  

   he 
  found 
  only 
  nine 
  that 
  killed 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  Four 
  of 
  these 
  — 
  the 
  

   goshawk. 
  Cooper 
  hawk, 
  sharp-shinned 
  hawk, 
  and 
  great-horned 
  owl 
  — 
  

   are 
  very 
  destructive 
  to 
  poultry 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  game. 
  Dr. 
  W- 
  C. 
  Strode, 
  

   of 
  Bernaclotte, 
  111., 
  writes 
  that 
  bobwhite's 
  worst 
  enemy 
  is 
  the 
  Cooper 
  

   hawk. 
  "A 
  few 
  days 
  ago 
  one 
  flew 
  up 
  from 
  the 
  roadside 
  when 
  I 
  was 
  

   passing, 
  and 
  a 
  bobwhite 
  was 
  dangling 
  from 
  one 
  foot," 
  During 
  

   November, 
  1900, 
  this 
  species 
  so 
  persecuted 
  the 
  birds 
  at 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  

   that 
  they 
  were 
  seldom 
  found 
  far 
  from 
  cover. 
  In 
  one 
  instance 
  a 
  

   hawk 
  was 
  seen 
  to 
  swoop 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  rise 
  with 
  a 
  cock 
  bobwhite. 
  

   The 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  hawks 
  and 
  owls 
  rarely 
  molest 
  quail. 
  

  

  If 
  bobwhites 
  more 
  frequently 
  nested 
  along 
  fence 
  rows 
  instead 
  of 
  

   in 
  open 
  mowing 
  land, 
  they 
  would 
  abound 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  where 
  they 
  

   are 
  rare. 
  The 
  mowing 
  machine 
  lays 
  many 
  nests 
  bare, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  

   either 
  despoiled 
  by 
  enemies 
  or 
  deserted 
  by 
  the 
  old 
  birds. 
  At 
  Sandy 
  

   Spring. 
  Md., 
  early 
  in 
  July, 
  1903, 
  four 
  nests 
  with 
  their 
  eggs 
  were 
  cut. 
  

   over 
  in 
  a 
  50-acre 
  grass 
  lot. 
  In 
  other 
  hay 
  fields 
  several 
  nests 
  were 
  dis- 
  

   covered 
  in 
  time 
  to 
  leave 
  grass 
  uncut 
  about 
  them, 
  but 
  boys 
  robbed 
  

   them 
  all. 
  Between 
  such 
  lads 
  and 
  the 
  crows 
  and 
  other 
  enemies 
  bob- 
  

   whites 
  have 
  a 
  hard 
  time 
  in 
  certain 
  sections. 
  

  

  To 
  enable 
  them 
  to 
  withstand 
  the 
  winter, 
  bobwhites 
  need 
  suitable 
  

  

  