A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
665 
palatable supply of such food. Bayberry and wax myrtle are 
eaten eagerly along the coast, where they thrive, but sumac 
is generally the most important of these staples. Nine-tenths 
of the food of a dozen Bob Whites shot in North Dakota 
during December consisted of the bright carmine berries of the 
sumac, some of the birds having eaten from 200 to 300 of them. 
Ihe food supply can be improved, and owners of game pre- 
serves and others who wish to have the Bob White as a neigh- 
bor can insure the presence of a greater number of birds to the 
acre if they will adopt this means of securing them. In the 
northern states buckwheat planted late will give an abund- 
ance of food for the young, growing birds. In damp situations 
climbing false buckwheat and smartweed yield them an ex- 
cellent support that will continue well into the winter. In the 
south the cowpea makes a good winter supply, and millet, kafir 
corn, and bald barley planted late are also excellent. Hairy 
vetch, alfalfa, tick trefoil, Japan clover, and the hog peanut 
furnish excellent food for the Bob White. Sunflower and rag- 
weed seeds are also palatable and nutritious. Acorns, chest- 
nuts, and beechnuts are utilized, especially by those birds that 
are kept in the woods by gunners. In Florida pine seeds are 
eaten in winter. During summer the running blackberry is an 
important article of food. 
• 
Suitable cover is especially important in order that the birds 
may escape from Hawks. Thickets of rose, blackberry briers, 
holly, laurel, and cat brier, adjacent to the birds’ feeding 
grounds — that is, along the edges of fields — afford the best 
refuge from winged enemies. Young pine woods are the 
safest retreat when the enemy carries a gun. If grain is 
provided in winter for the birds, it should be scattered along 
the edge of cover, so that they will not be imperiled when they 
take it. The birds must have, also, good roosting places. An 
ideal situation is a field covered with broom sedge, intermingled 
with briers. A good water supply is of course essential. 
Experience has shown that in suitable situations the Bob 
White will thrive if a chance be given it, and the friends of 
the birds should see that such a chance is afforded. The Audu- 
bon societies, with a total membership of 65,000 to 70,000. 
which cherish the bird for the pleasure it brings to eye and 
ear; the sportsman, who loves the whir of its brown wings 
