coTuiiNix. 17:^ 



shooters want to have an earher start than the law allows. Now very little of the habits of 

 these birds are known to the average sportsman. All he wants is to start shootint; as soon as the 

 crops are cut, because he sees Quail about. He i^niores tlie fact that the I'ectoral or Stuhlile 

 Quail usually commences breeding in N'ictoria about fjctober, and if undisturbed lays four 

 clutches of from seven to thirteen eggs, and there are seld(jtii more than one or two which fail to 

 hatch. .\s the chickens are full grown at six weelcs old, it will shew how necessary it is that 

 these birds should be preserved until the usual breeding time — which extends from September to 

 March — is passed. Quail generally make their appearance as soon as there is sufficient growtli in 

 the crops or grass to afford them shelter. They pair at once, and as soon as the chickens are a 

 week- old the male takes care of them until they are about three week's old, when they can lly 

 well and shift for themselves. They are then termed ' squeakers,' owing to the noise they make 

 when flushed. It is noticeal)le that if sheep are turned into a paddock they soon drive the Quail 

 away by their incessant movements. (,)n several estates where scud horses are kept, and shooting 

 is strictly prohibited, these birds remain throughout the year. Large numbers breed amongst 

 the Ti'todia, in Central Australia, in fax'ourable seasons during the months from March to June. 

 During that period there is an abundance of Triodia and Purtulaica seed, which all (juail greedily 

 consume, but when the supply is exhausted they travel south and hud chickweed and insects in 

 the cornlields and grass seed in the cow pastures. Like domestic poultry they are omnivorous 

 in confinement. My birds will eat raw meat, apples, bread crumbs, ,urubs, canary seed or wheat. 

 Although the hen birds lay freely in an aviary they seldom sit and hatch their brood, but if the 

 eggs are placed in an incubator or under a small fowl they generally hatch. The weight of a 

 pair of these birds, in good condition, is about 8'.> ounces. To sliow the amount of destruction 

 caused by reaping machines, I may mention that in an oat paddock at Rochester, \'ictoria, 

 cut early in November, 1893, a farmer gathered two buckets full of eggs, besides finding a number 

 of birds killed on their nests. 



" Dense paddocks of thistles are favourite resorts, and these birds are sometimes found in large 

 numbers in potato fields, where chickweed and insects are plentiful. They appear to be equally 

 fond of insects as seed. The crops of some shot in a dry swamp in the Western District, X'ictoria, 

 in November, 1895, contained nothing but grass seed, whilst others killed in the same month in 

 Gippsland had their crops full of locusts and caterpillars. Occasionally odd birds are seen in 

 every month of the year." 



iMr. G. A. Keartland, writing under date 28tli February, H(i i, f'om I'reston, near Melbourne, 

 remarked : — " I am sending you a set of eleven eggs of Cotiinilx paloralis taken by nie at North 

 Preston on the i8th instant, they were all fresh. This is an illustration of the mistake our 

 Government has made in altering the date of the open season to the 15th February. I went out 

 on the morning of the 15th, and on working round one hill side my old Pointer Hushed nine hen 

 Quail with broods of from six to ten young ones. They all made for the top of the hill, and I 

 went away to some grass land on a fiat, where I shot a few old birds, as there were no little ones 

 about. As I returned in the evening four ' slaughtermen ' came over the hill, and shot e\ery- 

 thing that could fly. Some of their \'ictims had only wing feathers, the head, neck and body 

 being covered with down, being only about eight days old. I went over the same ground on 

 the i8th, and to my regret shot an old Quail which rose from the sitting of eggs I am sending. 

 The owner of the ground assured me he was tired of chasing shooters out of the paddocks before 

 the season was opened. As showing the folly of commencing shooting so early in the season, 

 I revisited the paddock where I saw so many young Quail on the 15th February. My dog pointed 

 at a tussock, which I kick'ed several times, and then parted the grass with my hands, with the 

 result that 1 captured a hen bird uninjured. She was taken home by a friend, and has since 

 laid three eggs in the aviary." 

 44 



