PRIVATE GAME PRESERVES 199 



ford, Connecticut, declares that dogs should not be 

 allowed to roam at will during the breeding season, 

 and that cats, when found at large, should be 

 treated as vermin. It also contends that the de- 

 struction of certain hawks should be encouraged; 

 with which all bird-protectors will agree. 



Pitfalls of which the beginner in game-breeding 

 is warned are: overcrowding and its resultant dis- 

 ease, black-head, quail disease, roup, gapes, egg- 

 eating by adult birds, vermin (if eggs are hatched 

 by hens) , inadequate regulation of temperature and 

 moisture in incubators, destruction of young birds 

 by rats, unsanitary conditions generally, failure to 

 provide fresh ground in breeding, and predatory 

 foxes. 



Information as to the space available for game 

 preserves, or even the area now actually used as 

 such, is difficult to obtain. California tells us it has 

 nearly 2,000 square miles, or 1,280,000 acres, of 

 fresh- water ponds and lakes, and nearly 1,000 miles 

 of coast-line. In addition to the above, it has 

 nearly 2,000 square miles of preserves. Connecti- 

 cut has 50,000 acres, including private and public 

 lands. Add a generous approximate acreage from 

 several of the other states interested in propagation, 

 and the total, when compared with the acreage of 

 the United States, is relatively insignificant, com- 

 pared to even a partial list of Scottish moorlands 

 advertised in the London Times of July 3, 1914, 

 for lease during this shooting season a total of 29 



