. Birds that hunt and are hunted; . buckwheat—a favorite resort—or in the stubble of thecorn, rye, or oat fields, or along the ditches and clearings fringedwith undergrowth, or in the vineyard or orchard—just where itis the dogs business, not the authors, to disclose. The seed ofthe locust, wild pease, tick, trefoil, sunflower, smartweed, par-tridge berry, wintergreen and nanny berries, acorns, and beech-nuts do not complete the Bob Whites menu. Late in the fore-noon, the hearty breakfast having at length ended, a bevy ofbirds will first slake their thirst before huddling together topreen and
. Birds that hunt and are hunted; . buckwheat—a favorite resort—or in the stubble of thecorn, rye, or oat fields, or along the ditches and clearings fringedwith undergrowth, or in the vineyard or orchard—just where itis the dogs business, not the authors, to disclose. The seed ofthe locust, wild pease, tick, trefoil, sunflower, smartweed, par-tridge berry, wintergreen and nanny berries, acorns, and beech-nuts do not complete the Bob Whites menu. Late in the fore-noon, the hearty breakfast having at length ended, a bevy ofbirds will first slake their thirst before huddling together topreen and dust their feathers and enjoy a midday siesta on asunny slope. They keep near water during droughts ; but afterlong rains, look for them on the dry uplands and along the sun-niest coverts, not too early on a frosty morning, when they arelikely to remain huddled together late to keep warm until thehoar frost melts in the sunshine. These birds have a uniquemanner of sleeping : forming a circle on the ground, in a sheltered 264. GOOD QUAIL COUNTRY Bob Whites, Grouse, etc. open, beyond thickets where prowling fox and weasel lurk, theysquat close together as they can huddle to save heat, and withtheir tails toward the centre, and their heads pointing outward todetect danger from every possible direction, rest secure throughthe night and sometimes part of cold and stormy days, the maleparent usually remaining outside the ring to act as sentinel. Aswinter approaches, they leave the open, cultivated fields to with-draw into sheltered thickets and bottom lands, sometimes to alderswamps. Now, when hunger often pinches cruelly, the foodscattered for barnyard fowls is fearlessly picked up ; indeed, thesebirds haunt the outskirts of farms at all seasons, following thepioneer and railroad westward, and ever going more than halfway in establishing friendly relations between themselves andmankind. While all efforts to domesticate them have ended inrunaways when the nesting season came ar
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidbirdstha, booksubjectbirds
