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mistress and put back all the eggs into the Quail’s nest. The

eggs had been sat on two or three days and were quite cold, and

I concluded wasted, but I thought if I could only induce the

Quail to recommence sitting it would at least give her a rest. I

drove her back into the shelter where the nest was, though with

very faint hopes that she would settle down. For about twenty

minutes I guarded the entrance hole, and sent her back every

time she tried to come out; finally she made up her mind to stay,

and from that time sat steadily until the young were hatched. I

now realised at what cross purposes we had been playing. The

poor Quail lieu had gone on laying egg after egg trying to make

up the certain quantity of eggs that she considered the right

number to sit on, and I had been taking the eggs away, quite

convinced that as she seemed to show no inclination to sit, it

was just wasting the eggs to leave them with her.


Of these 15 eggs under the Quail ten hatched, and I reared

five birds, all of them cocks. They were not so strong as those

brought up under the Bantams in consequence of being later

hatched. Three grew into healthy, handsome birds, but the

other two were very delicate, and I had to bring them later into

the heated aviary. One, I think, will never be strong, but it is a

very bright little bird ; the other is improving very much. When

first I brought it in from outside it had one foot with the toes

quite curled up, and it hobbled about on the stump in a very

miserable way. I had serious thoughts of binding each toe up

in a starch bandage to try and straighten them, but I think the

lameness must have been chiefly owing to weakness, for now the

bird is stronger the foot has got quite strong and straight.

Young Quails soon seem to get tlieir feet dirty if they have not

a large space to run in and probably this was what first started

the mischief.


The young Quails were brought up on Mr. Arthur’s food

mixed with dry crushed biscuit and preserved yolk of egg. The

two earlier broods also got a quantity of small house beetles (the

larger ones they could not manage) and many hundreds of ear¬

wigs. These latter I caught in inverted flower pots half filled

with crumpled paper, and placed on the dahlia stakes.


It was a pretty sight to see either of the Bantams kill an

earwig and then call the young Quails to come and eat it. The

little things would come running up chirping shrilly. They

were very fond of their devoted foster mothers, and always

followed them about.


The young Quails were sweet little things during the first



