DISTEIBUTION OF BIRDS. 



13 



Grasshopper Sparrow. — The grasshopper sparrow is even more exclu- 

 sively a bird of the open land than the meadowlark^ for it seldom 

 flies up from the fields to perch in trees. During the period of obser- 

 vation it happened to breed for the most part in lots 1, 2, and 3, 

 choosing timothy fields or pastures (PL Y, fig. 2), or weedy, briery 

 cornfields. It was often seen feeding in lot 5, but was seldom 

 observed in lot tt, probabl}^ because the rotation of crops in that lot did 

 not happen to provide favorable grass land. 



Bobwhite. — The bobwhite — the quail of the North and the partridge 

 of the South — is also a bird of theopen, though it has the habit of flying 

 to cover when alarmed. Bobwhites were frequently found in coveys 

 of a dozen or more in lots 4 and 5. On being flushed they sought 

 shelter in the neighboring oak woods, where they spent much time, 

 especially in fall and winter. In summer they lived chiefl}^ in the open 

 lots of the farm, where the}^ nested. From the time that corn was 

 3 feet high until it was cut, they used it for cover. The}^ were not 

 as closeh' confined to grass land as the grasshopper sparrows, but 

 foraged in every lot, and appeared to come in closer contact with crops 

 than did any other species on the farm. 



Mourning Dove. — Among the birds of the first class may also be 

 included mourning doves (fig. 2) and crows, which, though not nest- 



FiG. 2.— Mourning dove. (The background of this picture is typical of the Bryan farm.) 



ing on the arable land, were always to be seen feeding there. The 

 doves nested in small pines in the more open parts of the adjacent 

 woods. As their food is weed seed and waste grain gleaned on stubble- 



