56 QUAILOLOGY - LETTERS & CLIPPINGS. 



My large aviaries are sixteen feet long, ten feet wide, and 

 six feet high, with a one foot board around the bottom, and 

 are covered with one inch mesh wire netting; on the south side 

 I build a tight water-proof shed, I make it the full width of 

 the aviary, six foot deep with a front six feet high and a back 

 four feet; the top, back, and two ends are boarded up good 

 and tight, while the front or south side is left open; be sure 

 and have the ground higher under the shelter, so the water 

 will not run in, I keep hay on the ground for them to roost 

 on also a few evergreen boughs for them to hide in. In the 

 winter I put some evergreen boughs over the front of the coop 

 to help keep the snow out. For entering the aviary and coop, 

 I have a door on either side next to the coop. These aviaries 

 will accomodate from fifteen to twenty pair of old birds. 



The quail will build her own nest, but it is best to fix a 

 place for them to build it in, which can be easily done by fas- 

 tening a board about one foot square one foot from one side in 

 the back of the coop, over this little pen place some evergreen 

 boughs, so as to hide it; the quail will soon find this and will 

 prodably build their nests there. 



If you want your pets to do well they must have good 

 wholesome food and the best of care. I feed my young quail 

 for the first week on a mash made as follows:— Take equal 

 parts of corn meal and middlings, to which a little brand and 

 the raw yolk of one or two eggs is added; feed every two or 

 three hours and only what they will eat up clean, as they be- 

 come older I do not feed so often, it is better to keep them a 

 little hungry than to overfeed; after the first week add to the 

 above a little ground beef and some green stuff such as lettuce 

 or celery tops, boiled potatoes are also very good, in addition 

 to the above throw a handful of millet seed into the pen every 

 day; after the second week add an even portion of clover meal; 

 I feed this mash until they are a third or half grown then I 

 feed the mash in the morning and grain in the evening; I think 



