. The bobwhite and other quails of the United States in their economic relations. Quails; Northern bobwhite. FOOD HABITS. 53 v ». Fig. 4.—Seed of mayweed (Aathe- ntis cotula). i From Bull. 38, Ne- vada Agricultural Experiment Station.) per cent of the annual food.^ Seeds of composite yield per cent, such injurious weeds as thistles making up the largest part of this percentage. The thistles most often eaten are Centaurea meli- tensis. C. americana, 0. solstitialis, Ma- riana mariniana, Sonchus and Cur- duns sp. M. mariniana has the largest seeds. Ninety of these had been eaten
. The bobwhite and other quails of the United States in their economic relations. Quails; Northern bobwhite. FOOD HABITS. 53 v ». Fig. 4.—Seed of mayweed (Aathe- ntis cotula). i From Bull. 38, Ne- vada Agricultural Experiment Station.) per cent of the annual food.^ Seeds of composite yield per cent, such injurious weeds as thistles making up the largest part of this percentage. The thistles most often eaten are Centaurea meli- tensis. C. americana, 0. solstitialis, Ma- riana mariniana, Sonchus and Cur- duns sp. M. mariniana has the largest seeds. Ninety of these had been eaten by a quail shot by F. E. L. Beal at Hay- wards. CaL, August 15, 1903. The seeds of the bur thistle {Centaurea melitensis) are smaller and have a hook at one end and a set of spines like a paint brush at the other. They are. perhaps, most liked of all composite seeds. From 500 to 800 are often eaten at a meal. The destruc- tion of this seed is highly beneficial. for the bur thistle is troublesome to farmers. "Wild carrot {Daucus carota), tar weed {Madia sativa), wild lettuce {Lactuca sp.). mayweed (Anthem is ootid a), and marsh elder (Iva xanthi- folia) furnish most of the remaining seeds of composite plants. Tar weed is a favorite source of food, and one stomach, collected at Watsonville, CaL. by J. S. Hunter, contained TOO of these seeds. Another stomach, from the same place, held tiny seeds of dog fennel, or mayweed. (Fig. 1.) From seeds of plants belonging to the spurge family (Enphorbiacece) come per cent of the annual food. Spurges, particularly Croton setige- rus, commonly known as turkey mullein, are a staple with the California quail as with most other seed- eating birds. So fond are the quail of turkey mullein that their crops are often completely distended with the seeds, sometimes from 500 to 900 to a bird. Turkey mullein is a prostrate plant covered with a whitish, woolly pubes- cence, and often used by the Indians to poison fish. Seeds of alfila
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