﻿PKESERVATION 
  AND 
  PROPAGATION. 
  23 
  

  

  food 
  and 
  cover. 
  In 
  severe 
  winters 
  coveys 
  are 
  sometimes 
  saved 
  by 
  

   being 
  trapped 
  and 
  fed 
  in 
  confinement 
  until 
  spring. 
  Naturally 
  the 
  

   birds 
  suffer 
  most 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  range, 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  

   reports 
  of 
  their 
  death 
  from 
  severe 
  and 
  protracted 
  cold 
  in 
  Maryland 
  

   and 
  Virginia. 
  Sandys 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  birds 
  know 
  when 
  the 
  snow 
  is 
  

   coming, 
  and 
  they 
  creep 
  under 
  the 
  brush, 
  intending 
  to 
  remain 
  there 
  

   until 
  the 
  weather 
  has 
  cleared. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Then 
  the 
  rain 
  comes 
  and 
  

   wets 
  the 
  surface 
  all 
  about, 
  then 
  the 
  sleet 
  stiffens 
  it, 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  the 
  

   cold 
  becomes 
  intense, 
  and 
  every 
  foot 
  of 
  damp 
  snow 
  promptly 
  hardens 
  

   into 
  solid 
  ice. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  The 
  quail 
  are 
  now 
  imprisoned 
  beneath 
  a 
  

   dome 
  of 
  crystal, 
  which 
  may 
  endure 
  for 
  days." 
  a 
  H. 
  C. 
  Oberholser 
  

   says 
  that 
  in 
  severe 
  winters 
  in 
  Wayne 
  County. 
  Ohio, 
  whole 
  coveys 
  

   are 
  found 
  dead 
  from 
  this 
  cause. 
  Dr. 
  P. 
  L. 
  Hatch 
  reports 
  that 
  in 
  

   Minnesota 
  the 
  birds 
  increase 
  in 
  numbers 
  during 
  years 
  with 
  mild 
  win- 
  

   ters 
  and 
  decrease 
  when 
  the 
  winter 
  is 
  exceptionally 
  severe.* 
  Wilson 
  

   Flagg 
  states 
  in 
  Birds 
  and 
  Seasons 
  of 
  Xew 
  England 
  that 
  thousands 
  of 
  

   bobwhites 
  were 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  deep 
  snows 
  of 
  1856-57. 
  During 
  the 
  

   very 
  severe 
  winter 
  of 
  1903-4 
  bobwhites 
  were 
  nearly 
  exterminated 
  in 
  

   portions 
  of 
  Massachusetts. 
  That 
  quail 
  do 
  not 
  always 
  succumb 
  to 
  

   exceptional 
  cold 
  appears 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  in 
  Susquehanna 
  County, 
  

   Pa., 
  at 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  2,000 
  feet. 
  W. 
  W. 
  Cooke 
  found 
  a 
  covey 
  of 
  a 
  

   dozen 
  bobwhites 
  apparently 
  in 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  condition 
  on 
  December 
  9, 
  

   1902. 
  though 
  a 
  foot 
  of 
  snow 
  covered 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  the 
  thermometer 
  

   stood 
  at 
  20° 
  below 
  zero. 
  

  

  A 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  winter 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  by 
  the 
  writer 
  in 
  the 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  so 
  far 
  has 
  yielded 
  only 
  fragmentary 
  

   results. 
  In 
  February. 
  1900. 
  after 
  a 
  foot 
  of 
  snow 
  had 
  fallen, 
  in 
  a 
  care- 
  

   ful 
  two 
  days' 
  search 
  he 
  -failed 
  to 
  discover 
  even 
  a 
  track 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  

   covey 
  that 
  usually 
  frequented 
  river 
  flats 
  along 
  the 
  Potomac 
  at 
  Mar- 
  

   shall 
  Hall. 
  The 
  birds 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  under 
  the 
  snow 
  or 
  back 
  in 
  the 
  

   timber. 
  At 
  Falls 
  Church. 
  Va.. 
  after 
  a 
  lighter 
  fall 
  of 
  snow 
  he 
  saw 
  a 
  

   covey 
  of 
  five 
  moving 
  among 
  briers 
  on 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  a 
  wood, 
  and 
  

   their 
  fresh 
  tracks 
  showed 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  feeding 
  systematically 
  

   on 
  rose 
  hips, 
  but 
  had 
  not 
  ventured 
  from 
  cover. 
  At 
  Cabin 
  John 
  

   Bridge. 
  Md.. 
  after 
  a 
  snowfall 
  of 
  several 
  inches 
  his 
  clog 
  pointed 
  six 
  

   birds 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  side 
  of 
  a 
  river 
  bluff, 
  where 
  the 
  sun 
  had 
  melted 
  holes 
  

   in 
  the 
  snow. 
  On 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  bare 
  spots 
  he 
  saw 
  two 
  birds, 
  which 
  

   rose 
  and 
  were 
  joined 
  by 
  four 
  others. 
  The 
  covey 
  had 
  made 
  wallows 
  

   2 
  inches 
  deep 
  in 
  the 
  leaf 
  mold 
  on 
  the 
  bare 
  spots. 
  All 
  the 
  birds 
  had 
  

   avoided 
  stepping 
  on 
  the 
  snow. 
  At 
  hand 
  was 
  such 
  food 
  as 
  the 
  berries 
  

   of 
  sumac 
  and 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  Galaetia 
  volubilis 
  and 
  Clicuncvchmsta 
  

   fascicularis. 
  Examination 
  of 
  the 
  droppings 
  indicated 
  that 
  less 
  than 
  

  

  a 
  Upland 
  Game 
  Birds, 
  p. 
  70, 
  1902. 
  

  

  * 
  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Birds 
  of 
  Minnesota, 
  p, 
  155, 
  1892, 
  

  

  5112— 
  No, 
  21—05 
  M 
  1 
  

  

  