38 QUAILOLOGY - DOMESTICATION, ETC. 



The mating season varies with different species, as will be 

 noted by a glance at the Ornithological portion of this work. 

 Location also governs the season to a certain extent. The 

 nesting season follows closely. 



Quails prefer to build their own nests, and in the art of home 

 building they are expert architects, almost always concealing 

 their nest where even the most careful observer will not easily 

 detect it. The nesting boxes in the shelter house should be at 

 least six inches square, and are at the disposal of the hen. A 

 quantity of fresh dirt should be spread in each section, and in- 

 to each a handful of hay or straw stuff ed, the arrangement being 

 left to the hen to shape up after her own taste. After the first 

 brood is hatched out the nest boxes should be cleaned out and 

 prepared for a second nesting in the same manner. 



*" Bggs & Incubation *'* 



The common bob-white hen lays from twelve to twenty-five 

 eggs at a setting, or from twenty-four to fifty in a season. 

 This last number, however, is a high estimate, as the second 

 setting is quite frequently smaller than the first. The first 

 setting is generally large, from eighteen to twenty-five, while 

 the second ranges from twelve up, according to the lateness of 

 the season and the condition of the hen, after having hatched 

 and cared for her first brood. With the possible exception of 

 the first egg, the fertility is one hundred per cent. 



Various theories are advanced as to the variation in numbers 

 of eggs layed. The fact that the hen can cover, and success- 

 fully hatch out twenty-five eggs, disproves the theory that the 

 instinct of the hen that she connot cover more, prompts her to 

 cease laying and commence to set when she has deposited some 

 twelve or thirteen eggs in the nest. We are inclined to believe 

 that where the settings are small, and especially the first, it is 



