THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



managed to hop about and pick up food, but 

 always remained a cripple, and never evinced 

 the slightest desire to wander beyond the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the house. 



This juvenile friendship with Bobby is my 

 authority for recommending quail as pets. 

 Their commercial value was first tested seven 

 years ago, when five pairs of Bobwhites were 

 procured, from which we raised fifty-two the 

 first summer. Fifteen pairs were sold, for 

 propagating purposes, at a dollar a pair. Six 

 pairs were kept to increase our own stock. 

 Thirteen birds were used on the table, and 

 would have decided any doubt about quail 

 being an acquisition to the home, even if they 

 had not shown such a good cash return. 



Game birds of all sorts have become so 

 alarmingly scarce throughout the country dur- 

 ing the last fifty years, that organized societies 

 for their preservation and propagation are 

 being formed in every State. In 1903 it was 

 estimated by the Biological Surveying Bureau 

 that 200,000 quail were required by such so- 



235 



