103 
THE AMERICAN QUAIL. 
When it comes to a consideration of an all-round good bird, there 
is nothing in the world that equals the American quail, known as the 
bob-white. He is not only the most desirable bird for the sportsman, 
but he is such a cheery little fellow that he is able to win the friendship 
of all who have a chance to see him parading with his large family or 
hear his cheerful song of Bob, Bob White! The farmer and the farmer’s 
boy likes the quail for his social qualities. When he hops up on a fence 
and whistles his notes to the man of toil in the early morning, the plow 
man or plow boy go to their labor with a hghter heart. As an insect 
destroyer the quail has its value; while his chief diet is grain and weed 
seeds, he nevertheless eats a great quantity of insects during the day. 
When the quail is located in a country to his hking, he does not 
travel far away from the place he chooses to make his home. He is out 
on the edge of grain fields or in the weed fields early in the morning. 
During the middle of the day the covey is idle. Late in the afternoon 
the covey again goes in search of food. Early in the evening a place for 
the night is sought in the thicket or heavy grass and briar patches. 
The quail dislikes to travel much in the open because of its fear 
of hawks. To protect itself from these birds of prey it hugs the hedge 
rows or fence rows, or skirts the thicket in its movements from place 
to place. 
Tn the winter time when food is scarce these birds will travel several 
miles away from their regular haunts. But they are likely to return to 
their home when conditions are favorable. 
The sportsman is particularly fond of this bird because of his per- 
sistent habits and his behaviour before a bird dog. The covey will lie 
a half hour at a time before the pointing dog, and when the covey is 
flushed the scattered birds lie well, so that they may be found and 
pointed singly. On the wing he is a bird of strong, steady flight, but 
does not usually go so far but what he may be marked down after being 
flushed. 
In a good quail country the sportsman can find, with a good dog, 
from 15 to 20 coveys in a day of seven or eight hours. Half this number 
is a good find on good quail ground in Illinois today. If the land 
owner continues to clear up his thickets, and intensive farming becomes 
general, there will soon be few quails left in the State. 
At the present time there are not enough quails in the northern 
counties of the State to make quail shooting attractive. In the southern 
counties where there is more cover, good shooting is to be had, although 
in this section the shooting is not as good as it was 10 years ago. In 
all probability another 10 years will bring about further changes cal- 
culated to further lessen the annual supply. 
With the aid of game reservations it 1s hoped that in some sections 
the supply will be kept up from the surplus birds. In the closely tilled 
country quails will be scarcer. A bird more suited to the open country 
will have to be relied upon to replace the quail. 3 
