﻿40 
  BOB 
  WHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  Romaine, 
  of 
  Crockett, 
  Tex., 
  says: 
  "Quail 
  have 
  built 
  their 
  nests 
  

   around 
  my 
  fence 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  my 
  garden, 
  within 
  50 
  feet 
  of 
  my 
  house. 
  

   They 
  have 
  kept 
  my 
  potato 
  patch 
  entirely 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  Colorado 
  

   potato 
  bug." 
  Three 
  captive 
  bobwhites 
  dispatched 
  50 
  potato 
  beetles 
  

   in 
  five 
  minutes, 
  swallowing 
  them 
  whole, 
  apparently 
  with 
  great 
  zest. 
  

   No 
  food 
  offered 
  them 
  was 
  eaten 
  with 
  more 
  avidity. 
  Thomas 
  Mcll- 
  

   wraith 
  says 
  a 
  recent 
  writer 
  mentions 
  that 
  he 
  examined 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  

   one 
  which 
  was 
  killed 
  as 
  it 
  rose 
  from 
  a 
  potato 
  patch 
  and 
  found 
  that 
  

   it 
  contained 
  75 
  potato 
  bugs. 
  Lawrence 
  Bruner 
  reports 
  101 
  of 
  these 
  

   beetles 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  crop. 
  6 
  Such 
  wholesale 
  destruction 
  of 
  these 
  

   pests 
  throughout 
  a 
  large 
  territory 
  is 
  an 
  invaluable 
  aid 
  to 
  agriculture. 
  

  

  The 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  cucumber 
  beetles 
  (Diabrotica 
  vittata 
  and 
  D. 
  

   12-punctata) 
  are 
  highly 
  injurious 
  to 
  cucumbers, 
  squashes, 
  melons, 
  

   and 
  corn, 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  harm 
  being 
  caused 
  by 
  their 
  larvae, 
  which 
  feed 
  

   on 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  infested 
  crops 
  and 
  are 
  difficult 
  to 
  combat 
  successfully 
  

   with 
  insecticides. 
  The 
  bobwhite 
  eats 
  them 
  freely 
  without 
  ill 
  effect, 
  

   though 
  examination 
  seldom 
  reveals 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  stomachs 
  of 
  other 
  

   birds. 
  Indeed, 
  captive 
  birds 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  other 
  species 
  experimented 
  

   with 
  have 
  refused 
  them, 
  probably 
  because 
  of 
  their 
  offensive 
  secre- 
  

   tions. 
  

  

  To 
  some 
  extent 
  the 
  bobwhite 
  feeds 
  also 
  on 
  certain 
  leaf 
  beetles, 
  

   known, 
  from 
  their 
  jumping 
  powers, 
  as 
  flea 
  beetles. 
  Its 
  favorites 
  

   appear 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  three-lined 
  potato 
  beetle 
  (Lema 
  trilineata), 
  some- 
  

   times 
  an 
  ally 
  of 
  the 
  potato 
  beetle 
  in 
  the 
  potato 
  patch, 
  CEdionychus 
  

   fintbriata, 
  and 
  several 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Disonycha. 
  The 
  golden 
  

   tortoise 
  beetle 
  (Coptocycla 
  bicolor), 
  an 
  insect 
  that 
  looks 
  like 
  a 
  drop 
  

   of 
  molten 
  gold 
  and 
  is 
  an 
  enemy 
  of 
  the 
  sweet 
  potato, 
  is 
  also 
  eaten. 
  

   The 
  locust 
  leaf 
  -mining 
  beetle 
  (Odontota 
  dorsalis) 
  is 
  another 
  victim 
  

   of 
  the 
  bird. 
  Its 
  larva? 
  tunnel 
  between 
  the 
  surfaces 
  of 
  locust 
  leaves 
  

   and 
  kill 
  the 
  foliage. 
  In 
  1895 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  this 
  pest 
  turned 
  the 
  

   locust- 
  fringed 
  bluffs 
  on 
  the 
  Potomac 
  below 
  Washington 
  as 
  brown 
  as 
  

   if 
  touched 
  by 
  fire. 
  

  

  The 
  agriculturist 
  finds 
  weevils 
  hard 
  to 
  cope 
  with, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  

   their 
  small 
  size, 
  protective 
  coloration, 
  and 
  retiring 
  mode 
  of 
  life. 
  

   Birds, 
  however, 
  destroy 
  them 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  often 
  a 
  score 
  or 
  two 
  

   at 
  a 
  meal, 
  and 
  bobwhite 
  does 
  his 
  share 
  of 
  the 
  work. 
  He 
  often 
  eats 
  

   two 
  common 
  species 
  that 
  feed 
  on 
  clover 
  leaves 
  (Sitones 
  hispidulus 
  

   and 
  Phytonomus 
  punctatus), 
  and 
  preys 
  also 
  on 
  the 
  two 
  billbugs 
  

   {Sphenophorus 
  parvulus 
  and 
  Sphenophorus 
  zece), 
  the 
  latter 
  injurious 
  

   to 
  corn. 
  He 
  relishes 
  also 
  that 
  notorious 
  garden 
  pest, 
  the 
  imbricated 
  

   snout 
  beetle. 
  His 
  most 
  important 
  weevil 
  prey 
  is 
  the 
  Mexican 
  cotton 
  

   boll 
  weevil 
  (Anthonomus 
  grandis). 
  In 
  1894 
  this 
  insect 
  first 
  crossed 
  

   the 
  Mexican 
  border 
  into 
  Texas. 
  During 
  1903 
  it 
  caused 
  a 
  loss 
  of 
  

  

  « 
  Birds 
  of 
  Ontario, 
  p. 
  170, 
  1894. 
  & 
  Notes 
  on 
  Nebraska 
  Birds, 
  p. 
  80, 
  1896. 
  

  

  

  