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PEAFOWL, GUINEA-FOWL AND QUAIL 109 



parents, in the New York Zoological Park, in very small 

 quarters, and several others are also on record. 



Unless extreme egg production is desired, it is better to 

 let the mother rear her own chicks, if she will. Where 

 breeding is being undertaken on a larger scale, the eggs 

 should be placed under bantams, preferably silkies or cochins 

 with light leg feathering. Others are more quarrelsome and 

 are likely to kill stray chicks of other broods. 



Bobwhite eggs hatch in twenty-three or twenty- four days 

 and other species require about the same time. The chicks 

 are exceedingly small and wild when first hatched, and all 

 crevices through which they might escape must be carefully 

 closed. After a day in the nest the brood may be removed 

 to such a coop and run as described for young pheas- 

 ants, but the wire mesh must not be larger than one-half 

 inch. 



Quail may be reared entirely in such a run, if the brood is 

 small and the coop is moved frequently. But large game 

 breeders prefer the field method as used for pheasants, the 

 chicks being allowed their liberty, while the foster-mother is 

 kept confined. 



The feeding of young quail does not differ from that 

 of young pheasants. The chicks are more delicate and re- 

 quire somewhat more of animal food. 



Great difficulty was experienced by early experimenters, 

 when the chicks were about half grown. At this time great 

 numbers died, entire flocks being wiped out in a few days. 

 This trouble now is well known to be due to overcrowding. 

 If there is plenty of room, quail will thrive as well as 

 pheasants, but overcrowding is fatal. 



The Eastern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus virgin- 

 anus) is the species most frequently seen in captivity. It 

 covers the eastern half of the United States and has been 

 introduced in many of the western states, where it has done 



