1 3 6 THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE IV [4 ■ 4-apr., 1908 



ate 568 mosquitoes in two hours. Another ate 5,000 plant lice in 

 a day. "A tablespoonful of chinch bugs," "over 100 potato 

 beetles" in a crop and representing a single meal, are reports from 

 government experts. In the warm months the quail eats largely 

 insects and during the cold months specializes on weed seed. If 

 the estimate of insect damage at $800,000,000 a vear is correct, 

 this one bird might save half of this tax, if given a chance to do 

 its work in nature. Alight not nature-study at least try to give 

 this species its chance? 



The writer is now engaged in rearing bobwhites with this end 

 in view, and in order to secure the most vigorous stock possible, 

 \\t would like to obtain unincubated eggs from widely different 

 parts of the country. He will pay all expenses of collecting, 

 packing, telegraphing and expressing, and, if successful in hatch- 

 ing and rearing, will return at least one pair of breeding birds for 

 each ten eggs received. No cash is offered for fear that it might 

 result in nest robbing, and it is desired to save the eggs only in 

 nests unavoidably disturbed which would otherwise go to waste. 

 If in doubt as to the age of the egg, an egg-tester will show the 

 embryo or one should be broken and carefully examined. All 

 eggs with visible embryos in them should be retained for local 

 rearing, possibly at home or, probably better, until methods are 

 perfected, at the nearest State game commission hatchery. Quail 

 reared in domestication are held at from $3.50 to $5.00 per pair. 

 Properly supplied with insect food, they are reasonably sure to 

 breed and will produce from 1.5 to 30 eggs per hen per season, of 

 which nearly 100% are fertile. 



Ruffed Grouse, or American Partridge ("Pheasant" in South- 

 ern states) Bonasa umpellus and B. togata — Work in domesticat- 

 ing this species is now entering its sixth season and is being car- 

 ried forward under a grant from the Carnegie Institution. The 

 former flock was poisoned with arsenic by cat fiends, but the past 

 season ten fine specimens have been reared from the egg. The 

 hen has been demonstrated to carry an internal parasite which is 

 fatal to grouse, but it has also been discovered that by the 

 brooder we can rear practically every chick hatched. 



In order now to collect the best possible stock with which to 

 establish a domestic strain, it is desired to gather eggs from many 

 different parts of the range, north, south, east and west. In this 

 collection of living birds we mav be able to discover where dif- 



