204 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



tion. There is so much calculation in this 

 habit that it is difficult to believe that the 

 birds are not endowed with a fair degree of 

 reason. 



However, if the quails are treated with kind- 

 ness and given to understand that you will not 

 harm them, they will become quite tame and 

 familiar, coming even to the farmyard to feed 

 with the domestic fowls. In such cases their 

 ways are wnsome, showing what charming birds 

 they are. A straw stack is (juite a favorite re- 

 sort for them in w^inter, where they can be seen 

 eating the grains of Avheat with relish. 



The eggs may be hatched with those of the 

 bantam, both requiring three Aveeks for incuba- 

 tion, and in this way quails may be reared, be- 

 coming the most delightful pets. If treated 

 well, they become almost as tame as the fowls 

 about the house, only, of course, their powers 

 of flight make it necessary to keep them in a 

 coop or cage to prevent their straying aw^ay. 

 A writer says that he has often caught quails 

 with a lath trap in winter, and in a few hours 

 they became so tame that they would freely 

 eat corn and \vheat dropped down to them be- 

 tween the slats, and if he kept them a week 

 and then gave them their freedom, instead of 

 flying away never to return, they were after- 



