destroyers. Especially is this so with respect to the Quail, Prairie
Hen, Sharptailed Grouse, and Wild Turkey, all of which are occupied
most of the summer months in capturing and destroying vast numbers of
such insects as are found on the prairies. Grasshoppers, locusts,
crickets, caterpillars, and similar insects comprise the bulk of their
insect food--forms that are all among the most numerous as well as
destructive species. In writing about these birds as insect
destroyers Prof. Samuel Aughey writes: "I happened to be in the
Republican Valley, in south-western Nebraska, in August, 1874, when
the locust invaded that region. Prairie chickens and quails, that
previous to their coming had a large number of seeds in their
stomachs, when dissected, seemed now for a time to abandon all other
kinds of food. At least from this onward for a month little else than
locusts were found in their stomachs. All the birds seemed now to live
solely on locusts for a while." In winter and at other times of the
year when insect life is scarce and difficult to obtain, these birds
feed more or less extensively upon seeds and other kinds of
vegetation. Some even enter cultivated grounds and seek food that
belongs to the farmer, thereby doing more or less direct injury. The
extent of such injury, of course, depends upon the number of birds
engaged in the depredations, and also on the time over which it is
allowed to extend. If corn and other grain is harvested at the proper
time, but little damage ensues; but if allowed to remain in the field
throughout winter, much of the crop is liable to be taken by the
birds.

[Illustration: QUAIL.]

Perhaps no other bird that frequents the farm pays higher prices for
the grain it eats than does the Quail. Living about the hedgerows,