188 
Bob - White 
and April 30, 1,341 tons . of weed-seeds, and that from June 1 to 
August 31, they eat 340 tons of insects. If we take as our measure the 
quantity of weed-seeds and insects eaten by captive 
Rld< Weeds S ° f Quails, as given by Mrs. Nice, we find that a family 
consisting of two adult birds and ten young would 
consume 780,915 insects and 59,707,888 weed-seeds in a year, in addition 
to other food. 
The annual loss occasioned by insects in the United States now 
reaches one billion dollars ; and the injury caused by weeds in this country 
is estimated at seventeen million dollars a year. Our farmers certainly 
need Bob-white’s help ! 
The principal method of protecting Bob-white has been by the pas- 
sage of laws forbidding market-hunting, or export, restricting the shoot- 
ing-season to one or two months in the year, and limiting the number of 
birds that one sportsman is allowed to take. In the South, however, and 
in some localities in the North and West, the birds are shielded and 
allowed to increase on preserves. Bob-white has been numerous for 
years in North Carolina, where the system of game-preserves has been 
brought to greater perfection than in any other part 
^ Pr <fp a gat i on ^ countr y* Guilford County alone has more than 
15,000 acres on which this bird is so protected, where 
gunning is so regulated, and the natural enemies are so controlled, that 
the birds maintain their* numbers. 
In the North something more than game-preserves will be needed 
to multiply them. Their artificial production is an absolute necessity. 
Even in Audubon’s time, Bob-white was reared successfully in confine- 
ment. Dr. Hodge has reared flocks of young birds at Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts, under their parents, under hens, and with incubators ; and has 
demonstrated that liberty may be given to them and yet that they will 
return to the hand when called. This work requires only experience, and 
a knowledge of the methods of controlling the diseases of these birds, to 
make it practicable on a large scale. 
Classification and Distribution 
Bob-white belongs to the Order Gallince, Suborder Phasiani, and Family 
Odontophoridce. Its scientific name is Colinus virginianus, indicating that its 
relationship is with the Francolins rather than with the true Quails (of Europe). 
It is distributed over the whole of the United States, and is resident except on the 
northern border of its range. A smaller variety ( C . v. doridanus ) inhabits 
Florida; another subspecies ( C . v. texanus), belongs to the valley of the Rio Grande; 
and a third subspecies, the Masked Bob-white (C. v. ridgwayi), inhabits southern 
Arizona and northern Sonora. 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
