Vol. XXVIII. 



1911 



Correspondence. 143 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE ALTERATION OF THE QUAIL SEASON. 

 To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 

 Sir, — The paper entitled " The Alteration of the Quail Season 

 and its Effect," by Mr. G. A. Keartland, printed in your Sep- 

 tember number, has been brought under my notice. The 

 writer's statements could be criticised very forcibly ; but, in 

 my opinion, any man who bases his arguments on the igii 

 season, when the breeding was admittedly quite " out of gear," 

 owing to abnormal climatic conditions, &c., cannot be taken 

 seriously. 



By the way, however, Mr. Keartland twice mentions the 

 14th February as the opening day for quail for this year, and 

 shows that he " shot a few brace " on that day. If he did so, 

 and will admit it in court, I shall be glad to ask the bench to 

 make the cost of the few brace somewhat higher than he in- 

 tended. Probably, however, Mr. Keartland's two references 

 to the 14th February were errors, and rather simple ones at 

 that. If so, are there any other errors among his statements ? 

 His remark that he has not been out since i8th February, " as 

 the few old birds have been shot, and there are no young ones 

 coming on," is possibly a sample, and I shall leave it in the 

 hands of a large number of sportsmen who had excellent quail- 

 shooting in June and July. 



The matter of the close season for quail is a very difficult 

 one, and the alteration was not decided upon without a good 

 deal of investigation. Criticism is welcomed, also the ex- 

 perience and opinion of careful observers ; but ridiculous state- 

 ments, such as — " The best proof of the absurdity of the last 

 alteration of the opening day of the season is to be gained by 

 a perusal of the Fish Market reports in the daily press. During 

 May quail realized up to 2s. per brace by auction," will certainly 

 not assist the matter, especially when they refer to one season 

 only, and that an abnormal one. — I am, yours, &c., 



J. M. SEMMENS, 

 Chief Inspector of Game and Fisheries. 

 Melbom^ne, 2gth September, igii. 



[The error in the date was observed and corrected by Mr. 

 Keartland in the October Naturalist. — Ed. Vict. Nat.] 



To the Editor, Victorian Nattcralist. 

 Sir, — I must thank you for your courtesy in submitting Mr. 

 Semmens's letter to me for early reply. The error in date I 

 freely admit, and have already corrected ; but Mr. Semmens is 

 also in error in supposing that my arguments are based on this 

 " abnormal season." I was in hopes that the abnormal season 



