Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-09-29
The Bob White Is Valuable Bird.

The hunting season will soon be mere
and before we prepare to go afield with
gun and dog it is well to think of what
good the various birds will do us be-
fore we slaughter them just to satisfy
our barbaric longing to kill.
The common bob-white is a resident
east of the plains and is found III
Eastern Texas. over the rest OF the
State. with the exception of the eX-
treme western part, a slightly different
bob white is found; though the dilef-
ence is very slight the bird has been
named the Texas bob-whte, winch
after all does very well, for we IKE
for our State to have something as
tinctive in everything.
Nesting commences in May, and TWO
or three broods are raised each year
The nest is a simple structure usually
concealed under the edge of log or
in a thick tussock of grass. They are
also concealed under the edges of hay
stacks and under trees and bushes in
orchards. The usual number of eggs
IS from l. to Is. although in hot wealth
er they lay less in this locality. Ihese
eggs look like miniature hen eggs, eN-
copt that they are more pointed at the
small end and are pure white.
The bob-white has enough enemies
to fight against without adding to his
troubles; they, of course, have very
little chance fer their life when an au-
tomato shotgun is pointed at them
for the shot spread over a considerable
area. Even if they manage to escape
this first Volley, they can not survive
the others which rapidly come from
the muzzle of the repeater.
Among the natural enemies which 1t
has to contend with are the snakes.
On July 20, 1872, while walking across
a pasture on the elge of the woods OF
Houston, I came across bob-white
nest cunningly concealed in clump OF
grass. The mother bird dafted OF and
revealed 10 eggs. I did not disturb the
nest, but returned the next afternoon
with a camera to get a picture of the
nest. Imagine my dismay to find the
eggs scattered over the ground ana
broken; some appeared as II they haa
been sucked. This was probably done
by a snake or a small rodent
In the fall these birds gather in large
CONVEYS and are found in the cotton
and corn fields, as we'll as in prairies
where the coffee bean grows in
abundance. At this time of the year
their food consists chiefly of weed
seeds over half of its food consists
of wild plant seeds which cause the
farmers so much trouble: the other
part of the food consists of wild
fruits, grains and insects. Among the
worms and insects which fall prey to
this bird are the cucumber beetles
wire-worms, billbugs, cutworms and
potato bugs. One pair of bob-whites
will do the work of two boys in STAY
ing potato bugs.
In protecting these birds the number
allowed to be killed in a day ought to
be lessened or the birds ought to be
protected for several years in order to
be allowed to increase, for at present
/ they are becoming quite scarce in
i Harris county Common sense would
teach every farmer to keep hunters off
his farm and to protect the bob
whites. thus saving himself the trou-
bic of having lot of extra work in
keeping the insects off his vegetables
and orchard trees, and lessening the
number of weeds which will grow in
his crops.-Spokesmanss Review.