the stubble field and was wandering amid 
the barren ragweed stalks when the red- 
tail arrived. The quail flew only 30 to 
35 yards before dropping exhausted to 
flutter along in the snow toward a brush 
pile. 
By February 16, no birds were left ex- 
cept the 12 feeding around the corn crib. 
These 12 had suffered no loss, nor did 
they during the rest of the winter, de- 
spite the fact that they were compelled 
to journey 300 yards in the open from 
their brushy cover to the corn crib and 
likewise compelled to dodge a yardful of 
dogs and cats after they got there. But 
neither the dogs nor the cats caught any, 
nor did the red-tail, to whose attacks 
they were exposed as well as the other 
quail had been. The birds had alertness, 
tone, and the ability to fly swift and 
far when they needed to.       They had 
corn. 
EXAMPLE V 
This example treats with a tract of 
what might be termed ordinary partly 
wooded, south central Wisconsin farm- 
ing country. The Wisconsin river and 
timbered ranges of hills east of Prairie 
du Sac enclosed an area of about 3 square 
miles. The river and hills served as bar- 
riers to prevent the 7 resident quail 
covies from mingling with covies outside 
of the area and to prevent influx of out- 
side birds. The quail actually occupied 
about 5 quarter sections 
Very careful census work was done 
and with the interested cooperation of 
the farm people; it is reasonably certain 
that all of the covies living in the 3 
square miles were located.    The covies 
held their numbers fairly constant and 
were generally to be found and flushed 
in their own respective territories. 
106 birds started the winter; 103 fin- 
ished. One of the 3 missing birds was 
known to have been picked up by a 
horned owl. The fate of the other two 
is problematical, but whatever happened 
to them, the loss was trivial in com- 
parison with the percentage that win- 
tered. 
As a whole, the cover was of the pas- 
tured oak woodlot type, somewhat poor 
except for a sprinkling of prostrate juni- 
per mats and some grape-grown fence- 
rows. The regular active predator popu- 
lation of the area, as nearly as could be 
determined, consisted   of one or two 
horned owls, at least one barred owl, sev- 
eral screech owls, three red-tailed hawks, 
a northern shrike, a pair of grey foxes, 
and a weasel. Dogs and cats occasionally 
left farm yards to hunt in the woods and 
fields. 
Cottontails were not especially abun- 
dant, and decidedly not so in some of the 
over-grazed woods. Meadow mice were 
plentiful but enjoyed the protection of 
six to eighteen inches of snow during a 
part of the winter. About a dozen ruffed 
 
grouse, a fair population of fox-squirrels, 
an  undeterminable but not abnormal 
number of shrews and wood-mice, some 
domestic pigeons, and the usual mid- 
winter representation of bluejays, hairy 
and   downy    woodpeckers, nuthatches, 
chickadees, red-polls, and tree-sparrows 
made up the remainder of the discernible 
fauna. 
It can be seen from the foregoing that 
the quail-7 covies totalling not less than 
103 birds on 5 quarter sections-were 
sufficiently numerous in proportion to 
the rodents and non-game birds to draw 
their share of attention from the preda- 
tors. But in spite of the mediocre cover, 
the predators certainly took no more than 
a very nominal toll.    Neither did the 
 
Winter Feeding Shelter for Quail 
 
quail die on their roosts when the tem- 
perature stayed around 200 below zero. 
Why weren't the quail dying on their 
roosts as were those of Example II at the 
same time? Why weren't the three red- 
tails repeating the same drama as the 
one described under IV? 
Like the 12 birds in IV, escaping as 
an intact group the complete disaster that 
overtook   two-thirds of their original 
number, the 103 birds of V saved them- 
selves through sheer fitness. Theirs was 
the vitality to stand the cold, to take 
the punishment. Theirs was the elusive 
quickness and the stamina that enabled 
them to move when and where they had 
to. 
Of the 7 covies in V, one wintered on 
ragweed seed and shocked corn; one on 
ragweed and cribbed corn; one on rag- 
weed and soy beans; three on ragweed, 
soy beans, and cribbed corn; and the 
seventh lost its identity as a covey by 
joining up with    the others.   All had 
ample food. 
By the way, what is proper winter 
quail food? 
Beyond doubt the most important of 
all is corn. Its importance is such that 
one can nearly estimate a given covey's 
chances of wintering on the basis of 
whether or not it has unmolested access 
 
to corn. Soy beans, the majority of the 
cultivated small grains, and the seeds of 
lesser ragweed, wild buckwheat, and tick 
trefoil (D. grandiflorum) may similarly 
serve as staples when available. 
Seeds of pigeon grass (Setaria), sun- 
flower, and hemp are relished but are 
usually cleaned up by late fall. Quail 
partake also of dried wild grapes, seeds 
of sorghum, hog-peanut, smartweed, and 
lambsquarter, and    black  locust beans. 
Locust, as stated elsewhere in this ar- 
ticle, seems   an  unsatisfactory   winter 
food in itself, the exact status of which 
needs to be checked by experimentation 
and further observation.     Other occa- 
sional foods of lesser importance or of 
questionable value are rose hips, fruits 
of false Solomon seal, acorns (opened and 
discarded by squirrels), and the seeds of 
catnip and other mints, flax, pigweed, 
campion, some mallows, evening primrose, 
boxelder, and soft maple. 
Normal well-fed quail habitually peck 
to a limited extent at innutritious ma- 
terial such as dried leaves, aster and 
goldenrod heads, and fibrous particles of 
all kinds. They also browse the leaves 
persisting on alfalfa plants, which leaves 
probably represent the richest source of 
green food to be had in the dead of 
winter. 
Starving birds eat large quantities of 
sumac and sweet clover seeds, as well as 
chaffy vegetable debris. They seldom die 
of actual starvation; their physical re- 
serve is merere-uced        hunger to they 
point that they cannot meet ordinary 
natural crises. A drop in weight of an 
ounce or an ounce and a half (an adult 
healthy quail weighs 6 to 7 ounces) low- 
ers the bird's resistance below the safety 
margin for a southern Wisconsin winter; 
whereas in summer or in the South, quail 
sometimes shrink to a couple ounces be- 
fore dying. Bob-whites under par simply 
cannot make the grade through January, 
February, and March-not in the North. 
What can sportsmen, farmers, con- 
servationists, and   genuinely  interested 
persons do about it? They can see to it 
that the quail have enough to eat. How? 
By leaving shocked corn where the covies 
can get at it, preferably at the south 
borders of brushy woodlots. Corn in the 
shock constitutes by far the most ef- 
fective method of feeding yet observed. 
Quail are entirely able to shear away the 
husks to get at the kernels, although the 
"uneducated" young might not know 
how to do so at first. Cornshocks meant 
especially for quail should be tied around 
the top and rather widely spread at the 
bottom, with openings to permit easy 
entrance and departure of the birds. 
Shocks so constructed afford emergency 
refuge as well as food. Thus we can, 
at a very little expense and trouble, ma- 
terially help our quail-and our pheas- 
ants, prairie chickens, and other valu- 
able game or wild life.