﻿36 
  BOBWHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  available 
  for 
  examination, 
  probably 
  the 
  percentage 
  of 
  fruit 
  would 
  

   have 
  been 
  lower. 
  The 
  December 
  percentage 
  is 
  evidently 
  character- 
  

   istic, 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  examination 
  of 
  about 
  200 
  stomachs. 
  

  

  In 
  early 
  spring 
  wild 
  winter-cured 
  berries, 
  in 
  May 
  strawberries, 
  

   later 
  the 
  Rubus 
  fruits 
  — 
  thimbleberry, 
  dewberry, 
  and 
  highbush 
  black- 
  

   berry 
  — 
  and 
  in 
  late 
  summer 
  and 
  autumn 
  an 
  endless 
  profusion 
  of 
  the 
  

   year's 
  wild 
  harvest 
  yield 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  an 
  accessible 
  and 
  abundant 
  

   food 
  supply. 
  In 
  late 
  fall 
  and 
  winter, 
  when 
  snow 
  covers 
  the 
  seeds, 
  

   fruit 
  doubtless 
  keeps 
  it 
  from 
  starving. 
  In 
  December 
  it 
  forms 
  nearly 
  

   one-fifth 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  for 
  the 
  month. 
  Sumac, 
  wax-myrtle, 
  rose, 
  and 
  

   bayberry 
  are 
  the 
  main 
  winter 
  supply. 
  Poison-ivy 
  berries 
  are 
  eaten 
  

   occasionally. 
  Rose 
  hips 
  often 
  project 
  from 
  the 
  snow 
  and 
  furnish 
  

   timely 
  food. 
  At 
  Falls 
  Church, 
  Va., 
  and 
  at 
  Cabin 
  John 
  Bridge 
  and 
  

   Marshall 
  Hall, 
  Md., 
  tracks 
  of 
  coveys 
  in 
  deep 
  snow 
  led 
  up 
  to 
  rose 
  

   shoots 
  to 
  which 
  partly 
  eaten 
  hips 
  were 
  clinging. 
  Sumac 
  and 
  other 
  

   plants 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Rhus 
  form 
  1.60 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  annual 
  food, 
  and 
  

   during 
  December 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  Rhus 
  alone 
  is 
  10.50 
  per 
  cent. 
  Of 
  

   12 
  birds 
  shot 
  during 
  December 
  at 
  Porters 
  Landing, 
  S. 
  Dak., 
  near 
  the 
  

   bobwhite's 
  northern 
  limit, 
  by 
  W. 
  C. 
  Colt, 
  each 
  had 
  eaten 
  from 
  100 
  to 
  

   300 
  of 
  the 
  carmine 
  sumac 
  berries, 
  and 
  altogether 
  the 
  sumac 
  had 
  

   furnished 
  90 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  they 
  contained. 
  Bayberry 
  and 
  

   wax-myrtle 
  are 
  as 
  important 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  as 
  sumacs 
  are 
  inland. 
  

   Berries 
  of 
  wax-myrtle 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  stomachs 
  of 
  15 
  out 
  of 
  39 
  

   birds 
  collected 
  during 
  November, 
  December, 
  and 
  January, 
  1902 
  and 
  

   1903, 
  in 
  Walton 
  County, 
  Fla. 
  One 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  bayberries 
  

   had 
  been 
  eaten 
  by 
  one 
  bird 
  taken 
  in 
  July, 
  1901, 
  at 
  Shelter 
  Island, 
  

   N. 
  Y. 
  Both 
  these 
  fruits 
  last 
  through 
  the 
  winter 
  and 
  well 
  into 
  May, 
  

   affording 
  excellent 
  provision 
  just 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  most 
  needed. 
  

  

  In 
  spite 
  of 
  its 
  frugivorous 
  tastes 
  and 
  constant 
  association 
  with 
  

   orchard 
  crops, 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  is 
  not 
  often 
  known 
  to 
  injure 
  cultivated 
  

   fruits. 
  M. 
  B. 
  Waite 
  reports 
  that 
  near 
  Odenton, 
  Md., 
  it 
  sometimes 
  

   picks 
  ripening 
  strawberries. 
  Yet 
  birds 
  that 
  were 
  kept 
  in 
  captivity 
  

   several 
  months 
  refused 
  strawberries 
  when 
  they 
  were 
  hungry. 
  Cul- 
  

   tivated 
  cherries 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  stomachs, 
  but 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  is 
  

   not 
  an 
  arboreal 
  feeder 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  damage 
  this 
  crop. 
  During 
  June 
  

   at 
  Marshall 
  Hall 
  it 
  was 
  repeatedly 
  observed 
  feeding 
  greedily 
  upon 
  

   the 
  fruit 
  of 
  running 
  dewberry 
  vines. 
  It 
  probably 
  does 
  no 
  serious 
  

   harm, 
  however, 
  to 
  cultivated 
  bush 
  varieties 
  of 
  Ruhus, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  

   thimbleberry, 
  the 
  raspberry, 
  and 
  the 
  blackberry. 
  It 
  is 
  fond 
  of 
  wild 
  

   grapes, 
  and 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  crops 
  each 
  contained 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  25 
  frost 
  

   grapes 
  (Vitis 
  cordifolia). 
  Hence 
  it 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  to 
  injure 
  

   cultivated 
  varieties, 
  for 
  its 
  relative, 
  the 
  California 
  quail, 
  sometimes 
  

   plunders 
  vineyards 
  ; 
  but, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  writer 
  knows, 
  vineyards 
  in 
  the 
  

   East 
  have 
  sustained 
  no 
  appreciable 
  damage 
  from 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  

  

  In 
  summing 
  up 
  the 
  frugivorous 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  

  

  