﻿28 
  BOB 
  WHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  feeder, 
  nearly 
  twice 
  as 
  large 
  a 
  proportion 
  of 
  beetles 
  as 
  of 
  grass- 
  

   hoppers. 
  The 
  meadow 
  lark, 
  per 
  contra, 
  another 
  terrestrial 
  feeder, 
  

   takes 
  29 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  grasshoppers 
  and 
  only 
  18 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  beetles. 
  

  

  The 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  for 
  the 
  year 
  is 
  noteworthy 
  in 
  several 
  

   respects. 
  Its 
  character 
  varies 
  with 
  the 
  season. 
  From 
  October 
  to 
  

   March 
  it 
  consists 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  of 
  vegetable 
  matter 
  — 
  for 
  Febru- 
  

   ary 
  and 
  March 
  99.8 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  vegetable 
  food 
  appearing 
  in 
  analysis 
  — 
  

   while 
  in 
  late 
  spring 
  and 
  in 
  summer 
  it 
  is 
  made 
  up 
  largely 
  of 
  insects, 
  

   August 
  showing 
  -±4.1 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  insect 
  food. 
  The 
  grain 
  taken, 
  as 
  a 
  

   rule, 
  is 
  derived 
  neither 
  from 
  newly 
  sown 
  fields 
  nor 
  from 
  standing 
  

   crops, 
  but 
  is 
  gleaned 
  from 
  stubble 
  fields 
  after 
  harvest. 
  Grain 
  forms 
  

   a 
  less 
  prominent 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  than 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  weeds, 
  which 
  are 
  

   the 
  most 
  important 
  element 
  of 
  all 
  and 
  make 
  up 
  one-half 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  

   for 
  the 
  year. 
  The 
  most 
  distinctive 
  feature 
  of 
  this, 
  as 
  a 
  whole, 
  is 
  the 
  

   large 
  proportion 
  — 
  15.52 
  per 
  cent 
  — 
  of 
  leguminous 
  seeds, 
  a 
  food 
  seldom 
  

   eaten 
  by 
  the 
  various 
  species 
  of 
  sparrows 
  or 
  other 
  terrestrial 
  feeders. 
  

   A 
  small 
  fraction 
  of 
  this 
  seed 
  comes 
  from 
  cultivated 
  plants, 
  especially 
  

   the 
  cowpea 
  ; 
  the 
  rest 
  is 
  derived 
  from 
  wild 
  plants, 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  

   classed 
  as 
  weeds. 
  Leguminous 
  seeds 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  most 
  largely 
  con- 
  

   sumed 
  during 
  December, 
  when 
  they 
  form 
  25 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  food. 
  

   The 
  15.05 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  insect 
  food, 
  although 
  a 
  comparatively 
  small 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  total, 
  is 
  of 
  extreme 
  importance, 
  since 
  it 
  contains 
  many 
  

   pests 
  that 
  are 
  generally 
  avoided 
  by 
  nongallinaceous 
  birds. 
  Note- 
  

   worthy 
  among 
  these 
  are 
  the 
  potato 
  beetle, 
  twelve-spotted 
  cucumber 
  

   beetle, 
  striped 
  cucumber 
  beetle, 
  squash 
  ladybird 
  beetle, 
  various 
  cut- 
  

   worms, 
  the 
  tobacco 
  worm, 
  army 
  worm, 
  cotton 
  worm, 
  cotton 
  bollworm, 
  

   the 
  clover 
  weevil, 
  cotton 
  boll 
  weevil, 
  imbricated 
  snout 
  beetle. 
  May 
  

   beetle, 
  click 
  beetle, 
  the 
  red-legged 
  grasshopper, 
  Kocky 
  Mountain 
  

   locust, 
  and 
  chinch 
  bug. 
  

  

  It 
  should 
  be 
  observed 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  search 
  for 
  these 
  pests 
  and 
  for 
  

   weed 
  seeds 
  the 
  "bobwhite, 
  unlike 
  many 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  woodland, 
  hedge- 
  

   row, 
  and 
  orchard, 
  extends 
  its 
  foraging 
  to 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  

   fields, 
  thus 
  protecting 
  the 
  growing 
  crops. 
  

  

  Grain 
  as 
  Food. 
  

  

  Vegetable 
  matter 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  important 
  element 
  

   of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite; 
  indeed, 
  many 
  people 
  suppose 
  that 
  it 
  

   constitutes 
  the 
  entire 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  bird. 
  The 
  impression 
  that 
  the 
  bob- 
  

   white 
  eats 
  little 
  else 
  than 
  grain 
  has 
  prevailed 
  even 
  among 
  many 
  

   sportsmen 
  who 
  have 
  bagged 
  most 
  of 
  their 
  game 
  in 
  the 
  stubble 
  field. 
  

   The 
  present 
  analysis, 
  however, 
  discloses 
  that 
  grain 
  forms 
  scarcely 
  

   more 
  than 
  one-sixth 
  of 
  the 
  food. 
  Laboratory 
  study 
  shows 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  

   eaten 
  in 
  every 
  month 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  the 
  maximum 
  amount, 
  46 
  per 
  cent 
  

   of 
  the 
  food 
  for 
  the 
  month, 
  having 
  been 
  taken 
  in 
  March. 
  In 
  the 
  

  

  