232 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



total weight of a female weighed was found to be less than 

 I-4- ozs. 



The Stubble and Brown species very often occupy the same 

 paddocks in open erassed country, while the King species 

 keeps more to scrub lands. 



With the ending of the "close season" for shooting game, 

 most sportsman go abroad to shoot for a day or more. One 

 of my acquaintances, with two of his friends, accompanied by 

 their best dogs, recently shot 728 birds in three days ; while 

 about 1890, on the South Australian-Victorian border, another 

 much stronger party, with eight guns, shot 900 birds. The ruin 

 of young birds upon the field after such a time is appalling, 

 and I consider it is iniquitous to have such a state of affairs as 

 may be observed by anyone accompanying a party of this 

 nature. Some shooters are honourable, and allow poor fliers 

 (young) to pass ; others are thoughtless. By the shooting of 

 Quail at too early a date thousands of young chicks are left as 

 orphans to die. This I judge partly by the female bird showing 

 a bare breast, that testifies to the late sitting upon her eggs. 

 From a humane point of view sportsmen might well stay their 

 hands a little longer time. For farmers to allow the birds on 

 their land to be shot too early is courting trouble, because 

 they are slowly killing the insectivorous " goose that lays 

 the golden egg." 



I have introduced the question here because it is fit and 

 proper, as I see it. 



The Stubble and Swamp Quails each lay a large number of 

 eggs (8 to 10), and it is surprising how they will cover and so 

 uniformly incubate them. Mr. G. A. Keartland describes the 

 process of rearing a brood in the following way : — " The long 

 feathers on the sides of the breast spread out at right angles 

 from the body till the bird could hide an ordinary tea saucer. 

 Although the male bird passed most of the time beside his 

 mate, I do not think he took any part in the work of incuba- 



