542 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



grouse and quail in domestication. His experience is 

 extraordinarily suggestive, and we quote much of his 

 report to the Massachusetts 'Commissioners, His 

 permits for the year allowed him to take 80 eggs of 

 the ruffed grouse and to keep three pairs of bobwhite 

 quail for purposes of propagation. He had 54 

 grouse eggs, from which 38 chicks were hatched, and 

 of these he says: 



"As will be seen, the eggs did not hatch as well 

 as in the previous years of experiment, possibly due 

 to cold weather in May. The eggs were all hatched 

 under Cochin bantam hens, as usual. Chicks are ac- 

 counted for as follows : 



"Fifteen chicks, June 6th, left with hen mother, 

 began dropping off after the first two weeks, and were 

 all dead by August I5th. 



"Fifteen chicks, June 6th, transferred on morning of 

 hatching to brooder; 2 escaped, I died, probably as 

 result of accidental injury, 2 died from swallowing 

 objects too large to pass into the gizzard (black cricket 

 and large spider), 10 are healthy, well-grown birds at 

 present. 



"Eight chicks, June iQth, transferred to brooder, and 

 all did well, until, on sudden change of weather, tem- 

 perature ran too high and killed them all. 



"The experiment was conducted this season on my 

 new place, on uncontaminated ground, and I thought 

 it desirable to try once more the simpler method of 

 rearing with the hen. The result is decisive against 

 this method. The fact that the hen carries parasites, 



