During five years (1939-43) of nutritional research on pen-reared bobwhite quail at the Patuxent Research Refuge, Bowie, Maryland, observations on picking among birds of all ages showed the following results: 1. Picking occurred on all grains tested: corn, wheat, oats, oat groats, barley, millet, buckwheat, kaffir, and mixtures of cereals. The lowest incidence was with buckwheat as the sole grain