﻿62 
  BOB 
  WHITE 
  AND 
  OTHER 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  June 
  had 
  consumed 
  44 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  beetles, 
  which 
  were 
  leaf 
  chafers, 
  

   apparently 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  genus 
  & 
  erica. 
  The 
  scaled 
  quail 
  

   destroys 
  also 
  weevils, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  clover 
  weevil, 
  Sitones, 
  and 
  certain 
  

   species 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  Otiorhynchidce, 
  or 
  scarred 
  snout 
  beetles. 
  It 
  

   takes 
  also 
  leaf 
  beetles, 
  the 
  very 
  injurious 
  twelve-spotted 
  cucumber 
  

   beetle 
  (Diabrotica 
  12 
  -punctata) 
  . 
  Further 
  studies 
  of 
  the 
  beetle 
  food 
  

   undoubtedly 
  will 
  disclose 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  pests. 
  The 
  bird 
  will 
  

   probably 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  useful 
  consumer 
  also 
  of 
  grasshoppers, 
  

   since 
  a 
  third 
  of 
  its 
  September 
  food 
  consisted 
  of 
  them. 
  Their 
  remains 
  

   were 
  so 
  fragmentary, 
  however, 
  that 
  identification 
  of 
  species 
  was 
  un- 
  

   satisfactory. 
  In 
  one 
  case 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  T 
  rimerotropis 
  was 
  

   recognized. 
  Ants 
  had 
  been 
  eaten 
  by 
  15 
  of 
  the 
  47 
  birds 
  examined. 
  

   The 
  other 
  miscellaneous 
  insects 
  included 
  small 
  bugs 
  (Heteropterd) 
  

   and 
  the 
  chrysalis 
  of 
  a 
  fly. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  queerest 
  objects 
  found 
  by 
  the 
  

   writer 
  in 
  birds' 
  stomachs 
  is 
  the 
  'ground 
  pearl' 
  (Margarodes), 
  sev- 
  

   eral 
  hundred 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  stomach 
  of 
  a 
  cotton 
  top 
  

   shot 
  at 
  Roswell, 
  N. 
  Mex., 
  June 
  17, 
  1899. 
  They 
  are 
  lustrous 
  and 
  look 
  

   like 
  pearls, 
  but 
  are 
  merely 
  scale 
  insects 
  that 
  feed 
  on 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  

   plants. 
  

  

  Vegetable 
  matter 
  furnished 
  .70 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  scaled 
  

   quail. 
  Grain 
  contributed 
  0.57 
  per 
  cent; 
  seeds, 
  mostly 
  weed 
  seeds, 
  

   52.85 
  per 
  cent; 
  fruit, 
  12.65 
  per 
  cent, 
  and 
  leaves 
  and 
  other 
  green 
  tissue, 
  

   1.33 
  per 
  cent. 
  The 
  species 
  resembles 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  in 
  its 
  habit 
  of 
  

   feeding 
  on 
  green 
  leaves 
  and 
  tender 
  shoots. 
  It 
  feeds 
  upon 
  budded 
  

   twigs, 
  but 
  more 
  often 
  limits 
  its 
  choice 
  to 
  chlorophyll-bearing 
  tissue, 
  

   often 
  picking 
  green 
  seed 
  pods 
  of 
  various 
  plants. 
  Like 
  domestic 
  

   fowls, 
  it 
  eats 
  grass 
  blades. 
  Fruit 
  was 
  eaten 
  by 
  only 
  6 
  of 
  the 
  47 
  birds, 
  

   and 
  none 
  was 
  taken 
  from 
  cultivated 
  varieties. 
  As 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  

   from 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  arid 
  plains, 
  these 
  birds 
  like 
  the 
  fruit 
  of 
  cacti, 
  

   and 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  feeding 
  on 
  the 
  prickly 
  pear 
  (Opuntia 
  lind- 
  

   heimeri). 
  The 
  fruit 
  of 
  Ibervillea 
  lindheimeri 
  also 
  is 
  eaten. 
  The 
  

   blue 
  berries 
  of 
  Adelia 
  angusti 
  folia, 
  which 
  furnish 
  many 
  desert 
  birds 
  

   and 
  mammals 
  with 
  food, 
  are 
  often 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  scaled 
  quail. 
  Differ- 
  

   ent 
  kinds 
  of 
  Rubus 
  fruits 
  are 
  relished, 
  and 
  the 
  berries 
  of 
  Koeberlinia 
  

   spinosa 
  and 
  Momisia 
  pallida 
  also 
  are 
  eaten. 
  The 
  fruit 
  and 
  succulent 
  

   parts 
  of 
  plants 
  no 
  doubt 
  serve 
  in 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  parched 
  desert 
  as 
  a 
  sub- 
  

   stitute 
  for 
  water. 
  

  

  Seeds 
  of 
  various 
  plants 
  form 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  food. 
  

   Legumes 
  furnish 
  21.84 
  per 
  cent, 
  the 
  mesquite 
  (Prosopis 
  jidiflora), 
  a 
  

   staple 
  with 
  both 
  man 
  and 
  beast, 
  being 
  utilized, 
  as 
  are 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  

   mimosa 
  (J/, 
  biuncifera) 
  , 
  besides 
  various 
  cassias 
  and 
  lupines. 
  Seeds 
  

   of 
  vetch 
  (Vicia 
  sp.) 
  are 
  a 
  favorite 
  food, 
  and 
  Morongia 
  roemeriana 
  is 
  

   eaten. 
  The 
  bird 
  likes 
  seeds 
  of 
  Medicago, 
  and 
  at 
  times 
  will 
  eat 
  clover 
  

   seeds. 
  Miscellaneous 
  weed 
  seeds 
  yield. 
  31.01 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  annual 
  

   food. 
  Nearly 
  half 
  of 
  these 
  are 
  seeds 
  of 
  bindweed 
  (Convolvulus 
  sp.), 
  

  

  