CONSERVATION OF GAME BIRDS. 563 



live. Those who are kiOing the game of this country must 

 put back into the coverts at least two game birds for every 

 one which they kill if we are to continue to have game, and 

 this can be done only by means of artificial propagation on 

 game farms and preserves. 



Game Preserving. 



If we ask why game is still plentiful in the British Isles 

 and some other long-settled European countries, the private 

 game preserve answers the ciuestion. Game is plentiful be- 

 cause there are many persons interested in propagating, rear- 

 ing, shooting and selling it, and many thousands of game- 

 keepers are devoting their lives to it. The birds which form 

 the basis of game-bird preserving are the Ring-necked Pheasant, 

 the English Pheasant and the Mallard Duck, all of which are 

 not much more difficult to rear than domestic poultry. Pheas- 

 ants have been reared by man since before the time of the 

 Roman conquerors, and Mallards no man knows how long. 

 These two birds may be depended upon to do well on preserves 

 in this country. There is no difficulty in breeding them success- 

 fully in large numbers in New England, as has been demon- 

 strated by the Thayers, at Lancaster, Mass., and others in 

 this and other New England States. In addition to these 

 birds the European Partridge may be reared successfully in 

 this country, with proper care and feeding, on game farms. 

 The Hungarian Partridge is recommended for this climate as 

 it is believed to be more hardy than the English bird; but too 

 much dependence should not be placed on foreign Partridges, 

 for even in England, where the people have been propagating 

 them for many years, there has been much complaint of a 

 recent scarcity of the birds. Objections to the killing and sale 

 of birds raised in this manner would apply also to the killing 

 and sale of poultry, sheep and hogs, and laws should permit 

 killing and sale of birds reared on game farms, everywhere, 

 as in Massachusetts. Under present conditions (1911) it is 

 not a profitable market industry. I asked a poultryman why 

 he did not raise wild Ducks for the market, and he promptly 



