096 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



RUFFED GROUSE 



Considerable interest attaches to the 

 preservation of our native game birds 

 and in this list the ruffed grouse is a 

 favorite with many farmers. This bird 

 is often considered untamable, but ac- 



Fig. 446 — THE BOB WHITE QUAIL 



cording to Hodge "a grouse chick 

 hatched in an incubator or under a hen, 

 from an egg taken from a nest in the 

 woods is every whit as tame as a chick 

 of the domestic fowl." The eggs are 

 laid so that hatching takes place about 

 the first of June. The young grouse 

 chicks eat all kinds of insects including 

 flies, gnats, spiders, mosquitoes, but es- 

 pecially fly maggots. The maggots re- 

 main an important part of the ration 

 until about August, but all kinds of 

 native small fruits, berries, grass seeds, 

 and weed seeds are readily eaten. In 

 winter grouse may be fed corn, kafir 

 corn, sunflower seeds, wheat, buckwheat, 

 rye, barley, oats, etc. Eggs in any form 

 should always be omitted and grated 

 carrot and green feed supplied. The 

 semi-domesticated grouse thus obtained 

 may be allowed to range about the 

 premises or may be used to restock 

 native covers in which the birds have all 

 been destroyed. 



QUAIL 



Several species of quail or partridges 

 occur in various parts of the country, 



and are everywhere known as excellent 

 game birds. Eecently a more general 

 interest than was seen in former years 

 has been awakened in the preservation 

 of game birds and among them quail 

 are great favorites. In the eastern states; 

 the common quail is the bob-white.. 

 This species occurs everywhere east of 

 the Rockies, a distinct variety being 

 found in Florida and another in Texas. 

 In addition to this species we have the 

 Plumed partridge in Oregon and Cali- 

 fornia, the Scaled partridge extending 

 from New Mexico to Texas, a variety 

 of the same form along the Rio Grande, 

 the California partridge in California 

 and Oregon, the Valley partridge in the 

 same region, Gambel's partridge extend- 

 ing from Utah to Texas, and the Mes- 

 sena partridge from New Mexico to 

 Texas. In the present brief account we 

 cannot describe the different quail. All 

 of them are eaten in the regions where 

 they occur and nearly all species have 

 greatly diminished in numbers of late 

 years on account of destruction by hunt- 

 ers and the lack of favorable conditions 

 in which to breed. This has led to the 

 adoption of various schemes for their 

 preservation and artificial propagation. 



The simplest way in which this may 

 be accomplished consists in colonizing 

 coveys of quail in localities in which 

 farmers simply assert their evident 

 rights in the matter and prohibit hunt- 

 ing on their premises. Quail may be 

 further protected by preventing surface 

 fires in their favorite hiding places. 



Raising quail — Quail may easily be 

 reared in an aviary. For this purpose 

 the house need not be over 5 feet high 

 but should be on dry ground. Gardiner 

 recommends that as soon as a quail has 

 laid her eggs they should be removed 

 and put under a bantam or in an incu- 

 bator. In this way we avoid allowing 

 the young quail to be taught to fear us. 

 The incubator should be kept at a tem- 

 perature of 102° to 104° F. and in the 

 brooder the young quail require the same 

 attention as young chicks. They need 

 no food for 48 hours, after which they 

 may be fed a mixture of equal parts of 

 bran, corn meal, and middlings with 

 about 5 per cent of fine sand added, the 

 whole being mixed with the yolk of a 

 raw egg. After four or five days a little 

 finely chopped beef scraps and green 

 grass or some garden stuff may be add- 

 ed. The feed dishes must be kept sweet 

 and water always accessible. 



