﻿32 
  BOB 
  WHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  a 
  continuous 
  harvest 
  through 
  the 
  winter. 
  The 
  grain, 
  inclosed 
  in 
  a 
  

   cylindrical 
  sheath 
  which 
  opens 
  at 
  the 
  top, 
  is 
  rattled 
  out, 
  a 
  few 
  kernels 
  

   at 
  a 
  time, 
  by 
  the 
  strong 
  fall 
  and 
  winter 
  winds. 
  Along 
  the 
  same 
  

   ditches, 
  especially 
  in 
  damper 
  places 
  among 
  trees 
  and 
  bushes, 
  another 
  

   plant, 
  the 
  jewel 
  weed, 
  flourishes. 
  Its 
  ripened 
  seeds, 
  hurled 
  from 
  the 
  

   opening 
  pods 
  by 
  elastic 
  coiled 
  springlike 
  valves, 
  are 
  eaten 
  in 
  large 
  

   numbers 
  by 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  The 
  jewel-weed 
  cotyledons 
  are 
  inclosed 
  in 
  

   a 
  plain 
  seed 
  coat: 
  but 
  the 
  cotyledons 
  themselves 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  delicate 
  

   robin's-egg 
  blue, 
  rounded 
  and 
  colored 
  like 
  tiny 
  turquoises. 
  

  

  Several 
  weeds 
  injurious 
  to 
  truck 
  crops 
  are 
  useful 
  to 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  

   In 
  a 
  field 
  where 
  crab 
  grass 
  as 
  a 
  thick 
  mat 
  had 
  overrun 
  a 
  patch 
  of 
  

   yarns 
  a 
  covey 
  spent 
  much 
  time 
  gathering 
  the 
  seeds 
  (fig. 
  2). 
  In 
  

  

  c 
  

  

  Fig. 
  2. 
  — 
  Seed 
  of 
  crab 
  grass 
  (Syntherisma 
  sangumalis). 
  (From 
  Bull. 
  47, 
  Nevada 
  Agricul- 
  

   tural 
  Experiment 
  Station.) 
  

  

  another 
  place 
  where 
  lamb's-quarters 
  was 
  6 
  feet 
  high 
  and 
  pigweed 
  

   still 
  higher, 
  a 
  flock 
  of 
  busy 
  weeders 
  could 
  almost 
  always 
  be 
  flushed 
  

   at 
  certain 
  hours. 
  Patches 
  of 
  green 
  foxtail 
  grass 
  often 
  attracted 
  a 
  

   covey 
  for 
  an 
  evening 
  feed. 
  In 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States 
  this 
  plant 
  grows 
  rank, 
  and 
  in 
  many 
  sections 
  furnishes 
  the. 
  

   bird 
  its 
  main 
  food 
  for 
  September 
  and 
  October. 
  Near 
  a 
  stream 
  in 
  

   a 
  truck 
  flat 
  was 
  a 
  forest 
  of 
  giant 
  ragweed 
  from 
  8 
  to 
  10 
  feet 
  high, 
  

   and 
  here 
  bobwhites 
  were 
  frequently 
  seen 
  picking 
  up 
  scattered 
  seeds. 
  

   Their 
  favorite 
  weed 
  seed, 
  however, 
  is 
  the 
  common, 
  or 
  smaller, 
  rag- 
  

   weed. 
  At 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  this 
  weed 
  springs 
  up, 
  not 
  only 
  on 
  truck 
  

   land, 
  but 
  most 
  luxuriantly 
  in 
  wheat 
  stubble 
  after 
  harvest, 
  covering 
  

   the 
  field 
  with 
  a 
  rank 
  growth 
  3 
  feet 
  high. 
  When 
  abundant, 
  its 
  seeds 
  

   are 
  eaten 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  more 
  than 
  those 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  plant, 
  supplying 
  

   a 
  little 
  over 
  16 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  food 
  during 
  October, 
  November, 
  

   and 
  January. 
  The 
  fruits 
  beset 
  with 
  a 
  crowning 
  circlet 
  of 
  spines 
  

   are 
  taken 
  into 
  the 
  crop 
  whole. 
  In 
  the 
  stomach 
  the 
  brown 
  oval 
  seeds 
  

   are 
  freed 
  from 
  the 
  spiny 
  outer 
  coat, 
  crushed 
  by 
  the 
  powerful 
  muscu- 
  

   lar 
  action, 
  and 
  made 
  to 
  yield 
  their 
  rich 
  oily 
  meat 
  to 
  the 
  digestive 
  

   juices. 
  

  

  