98 PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



allowed free range with her. Grain is given to the hens, but 

 the chicks receive no artificial food. With such rich forage 

 there is ample natural supply for them, which obviates dan- 

 ger of disease. When they begin to fly over the fence, they 

 are put back. Those that get out run along the wire and 

 are easily caught, especially after dusk, with a little electric 

 flash-Hght which bhnds them. When they have all learned 

 to fly out, the bantam gets lonesome and flies over to join 

 them. They use Hght-weight, active bantams, which travel 

 about with the young and care for them on free range, not 

 returning any more to the rearing-field, which avoids the 

 danger from fouHng the ground. This, of course, would 

 be impracticable without skilled handHng of the vermin. 

 By autumn the bantams become as wild as the partridges, 

 and often can be caught only by shooting. In each such 

 enclosure from 1,000 to 1,200 birds are reared, and losses 

 are slight. Such fields can be duphcated as desired, but 

 there must be a keeper for each in attendance. Toward 

 spring, when the breeding season approaches, in order to 

 scatter the birds over the preserve and break up the coveys, 

 the keepers chase them with horses and dogs. The whole 

 system is worked out thoroughly in every detail. They 

 know very nearly how many birds there are, and where each 

 covey is located. In the hunting season they kill only so 

 many, and leave the desired number for the next season's 

 breeding. No wonder that they have game under such 

 management. 



Adaptation to America. Such a system, with slight modi- 

 fications to fit local needs, would seem to be an excellent one 

 for quails. It might possibly be adapted to the establish- 

 ment of the gray partridge in this country. Occasional 

 reports give some hope that the species might become nat- 

 uralized, especially through careful scientific methods, based 



