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  BOBWHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  the 
  binder, 
  and 
  at 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  was 
  often 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  harvest 
  field 
  

   picking 
  up 
  scattered 
  wheat. 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  observed 
  there 
  on 
  the 
  shocks, 
  

   appearing 
  to 
  find 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  waste 
  kernels. 
  At 
  corn 
  harvest 
  

   also 
  bobwhite 
  takes 
  its 
  share 
  from 
  exposed 
  ears; 
  but 
  the 
  bird 
  is 
  not 
  

   able 
  to 
  shuck 
  corn, 
  as 
  do 
  the 
  crow 
  and 
  the 
  wild 
  goose. 
  Several 
  crops 
  

   of 
  ripe 
  oats 
  at 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  were 
  watched 
  during 
  harvest 
  time 
  and 
  

   furnished 
  no 
  evidence 
  against 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  No 
  report 
  of 
  injury 
  

   by 
  it 
  elsewhere 
  at 
  harvest 
  time 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  

   though 
  damage 
  may 
  be 
  done 
  where 
  peculiar 
  local 
  conditions 
  conjoin 
  

   with 
  an 
  overabundance 
  of 
  birds. 
  

  

  The 
  bobwhite, 
  however, 
  is 
  a 
  persistent 
  stubble 
  feeder. 
  As 
  Mr. 
  

   Sandys 
  puts 
  it, 
  " 
  He 
  is 
  the 
  gleaner 
  who 
  never 
  reaps, 
  who 
  guards 
  the 
  

   growing 
  crops, 
  who 
  glories 
  over 
  a 
  bounteous 
  yield, 
  yet 
  is 
  content 
  to 
  

   watch 
  and 
  wait 
  for 
  those 
  lost 
  grains 
  which 
  fall 
  to 
  him 
  by 
  right." 
  

   Where 
  fields 
  of 
  wheat 
  stubble 
  support 
  a 
  rank 
  growth 
  of 
  ragweed 
  the 
  

   sportsman 
  is 
  most 
  likely 
  to" 
  find 
  a 
  feeding 
  covey. 
  At 
  Marshall 
  Hall, 
  

   during 
  September, 
  October, 
  and 
  November, 
  such 
  fields 
  are 
  the 
  favorite 
  

   haunts 
  of 
  the 
  birds. 
  On 
  this 
  farm 
  corn 
  has 
  a 
  greater 
  acreage 
  than 
  

   wheat, 
  but 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  much 
  less 
  often 
  found 
  in 
  corn 
  stubble 
  ; 
  and, 
  

   as 
  stomach 
  examinations 
  show, 
  they 
  eat 
  much 
  less 
  corn 
  than 
  wheat. 
  

   Since 
  experiments 
  with 
  captive 
  birds 
  showed 
  no 
  preference 
  for 
  wheat, 
  

   food 
  other 
  than 
  grain 
  may 
  have 
  kept 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  wheat 
  stubble. 
  

   Along 
  the 
  Roanoke 
  in 
  Virginia, 
  where 
  wheat 
  is 
  not 
  grown, 
  bobwhites 
  

   feed 
  in 
  corn 
  fields. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  Western 
  prairies, 
  where 
  cornstalks 
  left 
  standing 
  in 
  the 
  fields 
  

   afford 
  good 
  cover, 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  more 
  often 
  found 
  in 
  cornfields. 
  Six 
  

   birds 
  collected 
  from 
  such 
  fields 
  in 
  November, 
  1891, 
  at 
  Badger, 
  Nebr., 
  

   contained 
  181 
  whole 
  kernels 
  of 
  corn; 
  the 
  smallest 
  number 
  in 
  a 
  crop 
  

   was 
  20 
  and 
  the 
  largest 
  48. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  not 
  unusual 
  to 
  find 
  from 
  100 
  to 
  200 
  grains 
  of 
  wheat 
  in 
  a 
  crop. 
  

   A 
  bobwhite 
  shot 
  at 
  West 
  Appomattox, 
  Va., 
  in 
  December, 
  1902, 
  had 
  

   its 
  crop 
  distended 
  almost 
  to 
  bursting 
  with 
  508 
  grains 
  of 
  wheat. 
  This 
  

   habit 
  of 
  gleaning 
  waste 
  grain 
  after 
  harvest 
  is 
  beneficial 
  to 
  the 
  farm, 
  

   for 
  volunteer 
  grain 
  is 
  not 
  desirable, 
  especially 
  where 
  certain 
  insect 
  

   pests 
  or 
  parasitic 
  fungi 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  combated. 
  As 
  the 
  scattered 
  kernels 
  

   are 
  often 
  too 
  far 
  afield 
  to 
  be 
  gathered 
  by 
  domestic 
  poultry, 
  the 
  serv- 
  

   ices 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  are 
  especially 
  useful. 
  

  

  The 
  bobwhite 
  sometimes 
  eats 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  certain 
  cultivated 
  legu- 
  

   minous 
  plants. 
  Both 
  the 
  black-eye 
  and 
  the 
  clay 
  cowpeas 
  ( 
  Vigna 
  sinen- 
  

   sis) 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  stomachs, 
  and 
  one 
  contained 
  35 
  peas 
  of 
  the 
  lat- 
  

   ter 
  variety. 
  In 
  Westmoreland 
  and 
  Mecklenburg 
  counties, 
  Va., 
  cowpea 
  

   patches 
  are 
  favorite 
  resorts 
  for 
  the 
  birds 
  in 
  November 
  and 
  December. 
  

   Garden 
  peas 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  crops 
  collected 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Walter 
  Hoxie 
  at 
  

   Frogmore, 
  S. 
  C. 
  In 
  rare 
  instances 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  picks 
  up 
  clover 
  

  

  