PROCURING STOCK BIRDS AND EGGS 35 



cheaper in the English markets during a long open sea- 

 son than beef or poultry are. One of the chief merits 

 of field sports and of game preserving is that they tend 

 to keep many people in the country and furnish a de- 

 sirable employment for many gamekeepers. There can 

 be no doubt also that when game preserving is more 

 generally undertaken in America the market gunners 

 can be permitted safely to shoot on our public waters, 

 and there would seem to be a better excuse for this 

 shooting (if any apology for the killing is needed) than 

 there is for the shooting of those who shoot only for 

 sport. 



Wild ducks' eggs should be purchased very early in 

 the Spring, when the ducks begin to lay. The orders 

 should be placed in the Autumn or Winter in order to 

 be sure of procuring the desired number. Mallard eggs 

 in America are now sold for about $3 per dozen, or from 

 $20 to $25 per hundred. Although this is about twice 

 as much as the eggs cost in England, I am satisfied that 

 there is no economy in purchasing eggs abroad. Not 

 long ago I purchased a lot of eggs from an English 

 dealer, and, although they were securely packed and 

 none was broken in transit, the percentage which 

 hatched made the young ducks cost more than they 

 would have cost if they had been hatched from Ameri- 

 can eggs. It is fair to say, however, that the eggs were 

 hatched in an incubator, and they may not have been 

 handled just right. 



The hens should be purchased or rented before the 

 eggs arrive. On some preserves the hens are rented 

 from the farms in the vicinity of the preserve; the rent 

 paid on a Long Island pheasant preserve is 25 cents 



