eames WeUabe@ Nae pestrte Eel lN 5 
thological Society; President (1933) of the Kennicott Club; Vice- 
President (1924) of the Wilson Ornithological Club and, as written 
above, for many years an energetic Director of the Illinois Audubon 
Society. 
He was the friend of all friends of birds. 
The Bobwhite in Illinois 
By R. E. YEATTER 
Illinois Natural History Survey 
IN RECENT years several important research projects have been con- 
ducted on the bobwhite quail, including the food habits study of H. D. 
Judd, the monumental natural history and management work of 
Herbert L. Stoddard in the Southeast, and ecological studies of P. L. 
Errington and others in the northern states. As a result there 
undoubtedly is available a greater fund of information for the preser- 
vation and increase of the bobwhite than for any other form of 
American wildlife. 
The range of the bobwhite includes all of Illinois. It breeds in 
nearly every agricultural section, reaching its highest population 
densities in the partially abandoned farmlands of the southern third 
of the state and the wooded river breaks of the south and west sec- 
tions, especially along the Mississippi. Old records show that quails 
increased and extended their range in early stages of agriculture, but 
they have declined during the last sixty years with the growth of 
intensive farming practices. 
Bobwhites are most abundant in farmlands near brush areas such 
as old overgrown orchards, blackberry and plum thickets, untrimmed 
fencerows, and the edges of ungrazed woodlots, where they can find 
refuge if surprised by enemies. Occasionally in summer when grow- 
ing vegetation provides additional cover a pair will nest at some dis- 
tance from brushy areas, but at other times presence of the bobwhite 
is chiefly influenced by the distribution of cover. For this reason it 
is important from the management standpoint that weed patches, 
unharvested corn or waste grain be available for food near cover areas 
during the winter. Undisturbed grassy areas are important for nest- 
ing places. Nesting studies show that to adequately protect nesting 
quail grassy roadsides and ditch banks should not be mowed before 
Doig. 15: 
“They thrive where the food supply is abundant and varied, where 
cover in the form of thickets is plentful and well distributed, and 
where there is both woodland and more open range. They thrive also 
with agriculture of somewhat primitive type that results in numerous 
small weedy fields, but they decline in numbers where farming is too 
