DESTRUCTION AND PROTECTION 545 



$500 from the Carnegie Institute paid a portion of the 

 expenses. 



The work of the Massachusetts State Farm started 

 in the year of 1906 with a flock of breeding quail 

 numbering 47. At the close of the season a partial 

 count indicated 30, and at the beginning of winter 21 

 were left, while at the opening of the breeding season 

 of 1907 there were but 12, or only about 25 per cent, of 

 the original number. 



A number of chicks were hatched in incubators, and 

 this method seemed to Arthur Merrill, the superin- 

 tendent, more successful than the use of hens. The 

 loss from dead embryos was less than the usual break- 

 age of eggs, and the chicks were stronger. The in- 

 cubators were run in the same manner as for pheasants. 



The young quail were fed on dried ants' eggs and 

 maggots, live ants' eggs and insects being added when 

 practicable, with fruit, seeds and grain as the bird 

 grew older. Insect food is unquestionably most de- 

 sirable for young birds, but it is difficult to obtain. 

 Berries, grasses and clover, or indeed almost any green 

 food, are essential, but difficult to secure. On the 

 whole, up to the close of the year 1907 the experi- 

 menters had learned chiefly what was to be avoided, 

 and not what was to be done. 



In his report to the 'Commissioners on Fisheries and 

 Game of Massachusetts for the year ending Decem- 

 ber 31, 1908, Professor Hodge gives at length his 

 experience for the previous season, writing under date 

 of November 27th. Little could be done toward experi- 



