March 24, 1963 - Bobwhite QuailBobwhite ,quail
Exclusive Sunday Review sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh, Cutchogue
The last article Judd Bennett
wrote for this column was on
Winter Beaches and I have been
after him ever since to continue
his good work. Today I am
pleased to introduce him again
as he writes on the Quail who
visit his feeder daily.
GUEST WRITER
JUDD BENNETT
The plump little quail living in
the f i e l d th'I kets and t h i n n e d
woods are those we call Bob-
white. He gave himselif t h a t
name. I Iike to feel I am yet
another admirer of the alert
American Indian for his direct
approach to all things living, long
ago he made the voice of t he
quail, so clearly whistled as call
notes, into the human sound of
words. A better name c o u l d
hardily be found. Those now be-
ginn]ng as observers and newly
aware of the wonders of outdoors,
parttctrlardy the younger impat-
ient naturalists, must be m!ghtily
cheered on by such refreshing
good sense.
Other bird having given "mes-
sages" to the Indians directly are
quite a few, the ranks led by the
Chickadees followed closely by
Whippoor wills, Killdeer and
o t h err s including the Phoebes.
They all say over and over their
own name. But painless learing
is always a short bit of luck.
Other observations worth t h e
troube are endless with facina-
tion.
Bobwhite males are strikingly
marked with a, distinctly ind vi'2-
ua'.ized head - pattern which is c(-
ten used helpfully to rapidly de-
scr:be other lesser known birds,
marked in a like way. "The
•`quailAike" head has become a
s'.an'.,'.ar standard like "r o b i n
size ", "crow shape" and "war -
bler-like." It takes little to ad-
m: -re the pert beautifiuLy adored
and patterned Bof!rmh!te. He is
s i tu p Il y one dandy little wild
"bantamal:ke" creature fashioned
so wonderfully to be of the type
youngsters pane to own. Some of
those who pine are not so young.
Ai11 winter tong I see. a covey
as they come for corn ch :ps. The
Wme lights of dawn have b u t
barely gone before the silent said -
in. on cui aped wings, from over
the trees comes or the head -down
secret dash from the dark wood-
Rand brings my family in f or
breakfast. The birds of this covey
numbered 111 in October with one
by one less over the weeks.. when
winter deepened and. -d a n g e r s
slow :y took to sul tfaction until
only eight were tii P make it;.
Each year almost repeats itself.
Rough and brutal snow - logged
tunes brings, to join, two neigh-
bor covey. Tlrtey can be spotted
by the nigA and left limnpers in
each. Their feet have been frost -
bitten. They also act less at
hoarse. No familiar Bobwhite calls
stow, only faint intimate family
,pluc kings, .basely audiMe.
The farm :iar cheery musically
whistled, calls are S pr i n g and
Summer delights. They declare
Ue home area of a mated pair.
When heard, nearby a ibreeding
mare has settled down with his
ohunky devoted companion. Their
way of living dtur:.ng this balany
season is of interest. They live as
simple ground dwellers. Most
birds living with their feet on
the earth have similar traits
which are always efficient and
he'ipfu!1. They are a'd, as well as
the Bcbw'hite, genera��y runners,
adept at saifety- dashes, good
fliers, efMotive at 'blurr -s p e e d
escapes and, fine dat'gent s_match-
ers. Chicken -like, quail eat at
ground level as the barnyarders
do for tthes woui'd be ordinary for
walking birds. Bobwhite w a I k
and walk all the day long starting
out in that fast blue gl :mmer.
They snake the rounds. The seeds
found have dropped from plants
called beggarweed, partridge pea,
sedges, numberless grasses, ]es-
pedeza and acorn - bearing trees.
They swift :y gobble up, in t'heiir
funny pick pick p:,ck way, glisten-
ing ground beetles, grasshoppers
and the dear o :d crickets.
Bobwhite covey are anode up
in the Faal and broken up in the
Spring. A covey is more or less
one family at the b e g i n n i n g.
Aunts, unc'.es, cousins and wan-
dering strangers join untid t h e
number gets Grose to a dozen
and a thalf. They then live as in-
separable buddies. They actua :t!y
'like each other. Perhaps that is
why we do too. I am not thinking
of a pat pie. There are members
b e i n g "scouts" out a r e a d,
"guards" waking the flanks,"
"leaders" leading, "adarm sound-
ers" ica,lling out — "come back
quickly, you! ". The covey is •a
we+ :d organ.zed mutually protec-
tive gathering. Stragglers a r e
ca5ied back by a cried plea that
soon: s Tike — "ka loi -kee" as a
question and the answering bird
sounds as if he'd whistled "wboll-
kee! Where are those Indians?
When food is thick they feed
eagerCy w.5'ih wings touching.
During colder spel:ils the feathers
are puffed out over the feet as
they squat for warmth still pick
pack pi&*ng without pause. Steep-
ing is side by sole on the ground
in a tight circle w5th everybody
facing outward. They are poised
four instant, and I mean instant,
take o6f. The first great 'burst of
the "sprang -out" sets each bird up
into the air free of the wings
of the others. Pobw'hite wings are_
s h o r t, small-!sh and d i s c i not
ly dowwicurved, powerful, as are
the strohg (legs and feet. A loud
thritdimg whirring sound is pro-
duced by the wingbeats f u l l y
speeded up for escape. =If one is
right on the spot this is a startling
moment of intense action. Every -
thing is "befuddle" in a flesh.
I think the Fox even shutters
briefly.
The assembtdng of the covey
is a lmixup known as t!he "Fait
Shuftile" and the mcxup extends
to die "Spring Breakup ". The
breakup is a sign of w i n t e r
ending. The scattering is gradual
with pairs just casually strolling
off -to wander into courtship and
worse.
On pairing the hen and the cock
are inseparable. The important
next site is sought 'as the hen
leads as, normal:y, she often does
anyway. Both work on the nest
seildom far from old paths, the
remoter small roads and shell -
tered clearings. It is tucked ex-
pertly in under overhang alll left
untouched. Partly covered as
they are discovery, de'lcberately,
is d:fficu!t. The last 'bit in place
the hen beg' iris laying.
Fourteen pure wh to eggs are
a cluill-h good enough. The hen
spends on'y a moment to lay and
quickly rejoins the mule standing
in wait. T`te 'last egg in place
incubation begins.
Twenty three days later they
have a nest filled with the most
appealing c h i c k s imaginable.
They match the en:7aaring won-
der in the dark., or "wild :ings"
those maci ,?aTy chin:rng into the
care of free wildfowl, from the
eggs of duck. A:'1 of these babies
have an irrepressible a p p e a l
heart - warming and wonderful.
The cook Bobwhite w, d coan-
plete the thatching •shou:'.d the hen
lose her Life. I�f she lives she
does it a :one. The t'me is June
and July, normally, but they wild
renest until October. Each year
on ?y one brood is raised and, even
if but one egg hatuhles the in-
stinct is satisfied for the year.
Too much main is Chad. Hot dry
days can possibly ,raise ground
heat enough to kilo embroyes.
Nesting Bobwhite have natural
enem es the worst, in' order, are
the skunks, rats, snakes and ,yes,
ants. Loses so feit, 'being natural,
axe not, mepea.t are not, impor-
tant as is so often believed. But,
you may think of the added loses
from man are and be correct.
The Bobwhite Cke' others con.
sidered gash -a, such as the Dove,
Squirrel and the Rabbit a'.d 'have,
from natural controls, a h i g h
population turnover. For quail 20
out of 100 survive everything.
The Bobwh,'te is an Eastern
native and is the en'y one around
here the three:.lcies in the
counA. You carir tot cabl him a
partxii e. +. '
Our mil areiismroadd and weigh
but ounce's plus. This 'little
°nine iIh, short; well. fea-
ther ec$ �,s p e e d s t e r can barrel
through the air, just short of 50
m i '1 e s per ' when real :y bent on
goiM They''car, became a little
tame.
These beautiful birds have re-
iccavered d1owl,y from a s e r i o u s
low. On Long Island they are not
as scarce as they once were but
still a-re far from. common. When
Bobnvihite are a g a i n at home
everywhere and whistling the be-
loved "ah bob wh!,te" the I
will once more :'rave the so
thrii :i :;imgdy, harken nvg back to
of youth and Indians.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
Marion Edwards Reports:
East Hampton =- Mar 28
House Finch
Laurence Ernest reports:
Mecox — March to
Pintails
Canvasback
Shinneoock — March 11
Brant (about 900}
Piping Plover (3)
Mergansers (2}
Bill Young, Richard F o s
K ^nny Power; reports:
East Marion — March 16