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Show II FACTS AS TO THE I BIRD, BOB WHITE 1 Simple Little Member of Quail Family Is Rein? Rapidly Exterminated. ARE VALUABLE ALLIES OF AGRICULTURISTS MiIliiifi of Dollars Conld Be Made in Raising Them at Present Prices r SriflHiMUWUK, Not. is.-A Uttle pam phlet Just leaned by the Department of j Agriculture- bureau of bioiogic.i survey I ; might properly be entitled " The Story of Bob White '' It treata of the quail and was the last offlrlal work of Prof. 8yl- I veeter D. Judd. an assistant In the bureau, bu-reau, who hanged himself a few weeks ago at hla country home near Baltimore. Prof. Judd had been In poor health for I several month, and Just before hla death had been release from a hospital In BaJ- I tlmorfi oftf r ii n e . , , V .. . . . l mi melancholia The atory of Bob While Is slmplv told aa becomes the life of simple member of the quail famlh Many Interesting facts concerning the habits of the bird It ueefulncM to t farmer and Its popularity popu-larity on menu cam are told. There are seven members of tho quail family In the foiled States. The most beautiful apecles occur In the Southwest f and on the Parlflc roast. A ' -nPJ. thr "".Vcn "" '' only one. the Bob A white (Oollnua glnla i ia indigen- ous to the eastern United Btatei where it LH ne" from southi rn New England to Florida and Texas. The ftub-.p.-ies. tho Florida Bob White and the Texas Bob t. White, are recognized bv scientist LbbbbbI ,.0w,nr !P 1n" climatic Influencea the H hlrd of Florida end of Texi differ enough to be distinguished as g-oR-races But wherever It occurs the-- Bob White has the enrn call and varies little tn habits. .Til"Bob Whl"' proper Is a handsome nird. but is the plainest of the eeven specie, with tha exception or tl JOp or scaled quail of the desert of Southern Texas and Arizona. The latter Is slatey bluish on the upper parts, which are ornamented with large scalelike markings, and has a whitish "The most hlzarr unci curtoua of all " eald Prof Judd '"U thl M- rn qnal! of the high braken plains nod mountain slopes of southwestern Te-jm, .southern New Ifexioo and Arlsona" Called Quail 01 Partridge. It looks not unlike- a little gulm-a hen It Is tlu geiltlest nnU nmst unauaplctoua of the quail family, and Is freqlrcntly killed with a tick or : stone personi who encounter It In their walks The people In tin- region which It Inhabits have given It the name of fool quail on account of this trait. The Bob W hite Is the most widely distributed dis-tributed and popular game bird In the T'nlted States. While It Is rapidly being exterminated. Its preservation could be secured very easily, for, unlike most wild fowls or unlmuls. It elocs not vanish with the growth of agriculture, but Increases In-creases when not molested bv hunters The Hob White Is called quail In the Nurthern, Western unl Middle State, while In the Southern State; It Is known as a partridge Both names were brought to Am. rim by English colonists The name Hob White Is from the familiar call note of the bird. In some of Its characteristics the bird differs strikingly from other members of the family "For example, the crest a well developed adornment of several closely related American quails in Bob White Is Invisible except when the bird Is excited." The common Bob White ranges more or less generally over the eastern half of the 1'nlted States and Southern Ontario, except In the colder mountainous parts, from Maine to Florida, anil w-xt to 8outh Dakota. Kansas and Texas In addition ad-dition colonlea have been Introduced and found to thrive In Colorado, New Mexico. I'tah und the Island of Jamaica. The bird bus also been fotind In limited numbers num-bers In Cuba. Mexleo and Guatemala "In the field." said Prof. Judd. "the nuptial call note of the cock bird Is an Infallible In-fallible guide to Its Identity. This familiar fa-miliar challenge sounding to the sportsmen sports-men like Bob White. Bob-Bob White," and to the farmer more like 'more wet' or 'no more wet.' In by no m.-ans the only note of the apecles during the breeding I seuuu. It was the good fortune of the writer 1 during the last week In June. 1902. to 1 hear the nesting note and other calls Again and again the cock left his distant perch, where he had been whistling "Bob White' and. still calling, approache-d the 1 nest on the bunks of a little sluggish I briery run between open fields. Bob White's Family Call. "When within fifty yards of his mate he Ottered the rallv note, so thrilling to the I sportsment In the foil, ka-lol-kee.' which DBS hen often answered with a single clear whistle. Then followed a series of queer responsive 'caterwaullngs.' more unblrdllke than those of the yellow-breasted yellow-breasted chat, suggesting now the call of 1 the. cat to Its kittens now the scolding of a caged gray squirrel, now the alarm notes of a mother grouse, blended with the- strident cry of a guinea hen. "As a finale sometimes came a loud rasping noise, not unlike the efforts of a broken-voiced whlppoorwlll Th- all of the hen to her voungsters Is Invariably "ka-lol-kee." 'ka-lol-kee." while the youngster respond "wholl-kee 1 At a rinse- range the whistle of the bird loses all Its melody and Ite.-omes a nasal shriek almost painful to the ear As many as fort -two egK nae been found In the nest of a Bob While The main breeding season for the Bob White in tb.- Northern states 1 ifsy, June and Jui. although Prof Robert Rldgeway, rural"!- of ornithology In th. Sinlllisonlan I Institution, found : nest of Bob White egg.s In southern Illinois In the middle of I October. Another naturalist found a nest tilled with 1 kb in .Missouri in January, on whl. Ii tin- mother bird was found frozen Two anel three broods have been prn- . duced In a season. There Is a tendency among Bob Whites toward local migration. In Virginia and 1 Maryland particularly they leave their summer home on the approach of winter anil 1 ungi gatr near th" large wut.-r courses. The habit of the bird during the hunting season Is to move about most actively and fer.1 itj the early morning and late afternoon. after-noon. The best shooting Is to be hail the hour hefore sunset. In the places where tb birds have derided to spend the rdgrvt. They roost on the ground, forming a solid ling, with talis In nnd heads out. The Bob White as nn a!l of the farm ers Is 1 hleft valuable as a deefrover of wed seeds Prof Judd made u.11 estimate of what the Bob White would accomplish In this line for the farmers of the two States of Vlrglnlna and North Carolina from the beginning of September to the end of April. 1 He allowed four Bob Whites to e0rh square mile of land, which Is a low estimate, esti-mate, and would glv. Xi In the 1 wo States The rrop of each hlrd holds half an ounce of seed and Is filled iwlce a day. Eat Harmful Bur.. Since at each of the two dallv meals weed seeds constitute at least half the contents of the crop, a half ounce dally ks thus consumed by each bird, and on this basis the total consumption of seed In the ! two Slates covering the period mentioned, would amount to 1341 tons. A similar cal- I culatlon shows that 340 tons of destructive ' Inserts WOUld be ronciumed by the birds in , the same period. The Hob White e,ta tho ' Hockv Mountain lueiist lh ..KI....K I the potato worms and nrm worms. Prof Judd estimated thru with proper management some farms of from M)0 to 1O0O acreB would yield a better revenue from the raising of Bob Whites for the market than from pmiltrx growing In North Carolina many farms yield a regular regu-lar Income by this Industry The shooting rights are b used to sportsmen sports-men who pay considerable sums for the i.rlx liege in aome places in Maryland. Virginia and North Carolina sportsmen pu from 6 to X cents for every bird shot Millions of dollars can be re alized by the proper management of the quail crop of the I'nlted States. No game Is so much sought for In the market us quail. The writer " nays Prof Judd. "knows of a single dealer In Washington who in IMS sold lOO.OOO quail. The present price Is H to f a dozen. et Audubon tells us that In DUO the birds could le bought for 11' n uts a doien and In Kl f.,r i'o cents a dozen T. S Van D ke. the author, suvs. "Dear little Bob White biifi breright more rest 10 the business wearied s,,n; more new 1 life to tired humanity than nearlv all I other American game combine.) " Prof Judd said that the pursuit of many kinds ( cirne Is possible onlv In the distant wilderness, whrre traveling Is difficult ami the e-xios ire Incident' to the sport ma Im dangerous 10 health, bill the pur-sult pur-sult of Hob Whlto b.-longs to op.-n ac- ceselble country, and Is not too cvi-i-e for the men acrustomed to .1 miiii1.ii llfi To thouonnds of such nun quail hunting hunt-ing Is the earl means of r'stora;! in and results in a dlrsoi benelM to thi 1 smm i-nity. i-nity. though one not readily computed In money value. Ai a conservative estimate, esti-mate, between 300. (Mi and 409.000 sports rneti go out from citli-M every fall 1o hnui Hob White, which means a large txp id -ture of money, much of which goes to farmers who hold shooting land. |
