144 Correspondence. [^"^No^^' 



theory was entitled to a rest, as I have heard it quoted on every 

 deputation on the quail question which I have attended. It 

 may interest Mr. Semmens to know that I speak from fifty 

 years' experience as a sportsman and over forty years as a 

 careful observer, during which time I have not only bred quail 

 in my aviary, but in 1909 had the pleasure of watching marked 

 birds breeding in a paddock adjoining my property. I have 

 studied the birds in the Ballarat, Maryborough, Nhill, ^lelton, 

 Heidelberg, and Preston districts of Victoria ; in Riverina, 

 N.S.W. ; in Central and North-West Australia ; and on that 

 experience base my arguments. That sportsmen may get good 

 quail-shooting in June and July I can freely endorse, as I have 

 frequently stated in press correspondence and on deputations ; 

 but it has always been on property where the birds have been 

 allowed to finish breeding and the young ones have matured. 

 It would, perhaps, interest the readers of the Naturalist to hear 

 why the late Sir Thomas Bent, after gazetting an early opening 

 of the shooting season, which I, with others, opposed, cancelled 

 his order after about a fortnight's trial. Rumour states that 

 he was inundated with parcels of little, half-fledged, young 

 quail. He certainly had some sent him, and, like a gentleman, 

 admitted his mistake. Quail breed from October to the end 

 of ^larch if undisturbed, but where they are harassed they 

 soon shift to other quarters. This is illustrated in the fact that 

 they soon leave sheep country, but remain in agricultural or 

 cattle country. When I stated that " the old birds had been 

 shot, and there were no young ones coming on," I was alluding 

 to the places with which I am familiar. I can find quail now 

 in places where they are protected, but in open country, to 

 which the general public had access, very few birds were found 

 after ist March. I regret that Mr. Semmens did not consult 

 the advisory committee or some of the ornithological societies, 

 or, better still, some of the correspondence in the possession 

 of the Government, before rushing into print. I have spared 

 neither time nor money in my endeavours to increase the supply 

 of quail. Ten years ago I issued 347 circulars, containing a 

 series of questions, to all the sportsmen whose addresses I could 

 ascertain, and in nearly every case they endorsed my view — 

 that the end of March is soon enough to start shooting. I have 

 distributed nearh^ all the reprints of my paper amongst land- 

 owners and sportsmen, without receiving a single contradiction. 

 It would have been more satisfactory to have had a few argu- 

 ments in support of the alteration in the Game Act instead of 

 a general contradiction and copious quotations. To get at the 

 best way of increasing the number of birds is my object. 

 Apologizing for thus trespassing on your space, I am, &c., 



Preston, 30th October. G. A. KEARTLAND. 



