﻿FOOD 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  33 
  

  

  Pig. 
  3.— 
  Seed 
  of 
  knot 
  grass 
  

   ( 
  Po 
  lygotiu 
  m 
  a 
  vicula 
  re). 
  

   (From 
  Bull. 
  38, 
  Nevada 
  Ag- 
  

   ricultural 
  Experiment 
  Sta- 
  

   tion. 
  ) 
  

  

  In 
  Mecklenburg 
  County, 
  Va., 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  December, 
  

   1902, 
  a 
  covey 
  of 
  a 
  dozen 
  bobwhites 
  resorted 
  to 
  a 
  cornfield 
  to 
  feed 
  on 
  

   the 
  shining 
  black 
  seeds 
  of 
  smartweed, 
  often 
  a 
  troublesome 
  plant 
  on 
  

   low 
  ground. 
  In 
  Westmoreland 
  County, 
  November, 
  1901, 
  bobwhites 
  

   fed 
  freely 
  on 
  seeds 
  of 
  climbing 
  false 
  buckwheat, 
  which 
  festooned 
  all 
  

   the 
  shrubbery 
  along 
  streams 
  and 
  afforded 
  the 
  birds 
  admirable 
  cover 
  

   as 
  well 
  as 
  food. 
  The 
  seeds 
  of 
  knot 
  grass 
  (fig. 
  3), 
  a 
  species 
  related 
  to 
  

   the 
  smartweeds 
  and 
  false 
  buckwheat, 
  also 
  

   contribute 
  to 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  

  

  The 
  fondness 
  of 
  bobwhites 
  for 
  leguminous 
  

   seeds 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  mentioned. 
  On 
  the 
  

   edge 
  of 
  woodlands, 
  along 
  hedgerows, 
  and 
  to 
  

   some 
  extent 
  in 
  open 
  ground, 
  they 
  consume 
  

   large 
  quantities 
  of 
  seeds 
  of 
  tick-trefoil, 
  

   Japan 
  clover, 
  and 
  bush 
  clover, 
  and 
  their 
  

   crops 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  distended 
  with 
  these 
  

   seeds. 
  They 
  also 
  find 
  the 
  partridge 
  pea 
  

   massed 
  in 
  great 
  patches 
  at 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  

   and 
  in 
  some 
  places 
  in 
  Virginia, 
  but 
  it 
  appears 
  

   to 
  be 
  of 
  less 
  importance 
  to 
  them. 
  A 
  few 
  stomachs 
  contained 
  as 
  

   many 
  as 
  100 
  of 
  these 
  seeds. 
  In 
  several 
  sections 
  the 
  butterfly 
  pea 
  was 
  

   eaten 
  in 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  proportion 
  as 
  the 
  partridge 
  pea. 
  The 
  hog 
  

   peanut, 
  like 
  the 
  butterfly 
  pea, 
  a 
  trailing 
  plant 
  bearing 
  a 
  small 
  

   grayish-brown 
  bean, 
  furnished 
  several 
  times 
  as 
  much 
  food 
  as 
  the 
  

   partridge 
  pea 
  and 
  butterfly 
  pea 
  combined. 
  Of 
  these 
  seeds 
  600 
  are 
  

   sometimes 
  eaten 
  at 
  a 
  meal. 
  Southern 
  birds 
  relish 
  the 
  Florida 
  coffee 
  

   seeds 
  and 
  lupine 
  seeds. 
  Seeds 
  from 
  locust 
  pods 
  also 
  are 
  frequently 
  

   eaten 
  by 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  northeastern 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  

   as 
  feeding 
  on 
  seeds 
  of 
  the 
  ill-scented 
  skunk 
  cabbage. 
  Four 
  of 
  eight 
  

   birds 
  shot 
  in 
  October, 
  1902, 
  at 
  Wilmington, 
  Mass., 
  by 
  Edward 
  A. 
  

   Preble, 
  of 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  had 
  eaten 
  them. 
  These 
  seeds 
  are 
  

   somewhat 
  flattened 
  and 
  subspherical, 
  and 
  average 
  about 
  three-eighths 
  

   of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  diameter. 
  Two 
  crops 
  were 
  filled 
  with 
  them, 
  one 
  con- 
  

   taining 
  10 
  of 
  these 
  great 
  seeds. 
  This 
  plant, 
  abundant 
  in 
  northern 
  

   swamps, 
  may 
  furnish 
  food 
  for 
  birds 
  in 
  game 
  preserves. 
  

  

  Seeds 
  of 
  different 
  species 
  of 
  violets 
  are 
  often 
  eaten. 
  In 
  some 
  cases 
  

   the 
  three-valved 
  seed 
  pods, 
  each 
  valve 
  containing 
  a 
  dozen 
  or 
  more 
  

   seeds, 
  had 
  been 
  swallowed 
  entire. 
  Seeds 
  make 
  up 
  50.36 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  

   bobwhite's 
  food, 
  and 
  a 
  quantitative 
  study 
  of 
  it 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  grass 
  

   family 
  contributes 
  9.46 
  per 
  cent 
  ; 
  leguminous 
  plants, 
  15.52 
  per 
  cent 
  ; 
  

   smartweed 
  and 
  other 
  polygonums, 
  4.41 
  per 
  cent; 
  ragweed, 
  7.28 
  per 
  

   cent 
  ; 
  and 
  miscellaneous 
  weeds, 
  13.69 
  per 
  cent. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  seeds 
  

  

  