pagation by hand is, if not absolutely solved — on the 

 direct road to be solved. The further development 

 though must be in the hands of thoroughly experienced 

 men who have had a wide and long experience in rearing 

 game birds. 



Experiment No. 1 carried out in 1916. Seven eggs 

 hatched by a game bantam, Free Range Method. 

 They were placed in a coop and small runway in the wood 

 near entrance gate to Deer Park. After a' couple of 

 days in confinement I removed the runway. This gave 

 the chicks liberty to roam around in search of their natur- 

 al food. They kept very busy catching the aphids which 

 clung to the undergrowth in quantities. This seemed to 

 be their favorite natural food. I supplemented this with 

 fine game meal and the yolk of a hard boiled egg 

 sprinkled in front of the coop in which the foster-mother 

 was still confined. After a day or two of this treat- 

 ment, the chicks roamed off in search of food often get- 

 ting so far that I had to carry one or two back within 

 hearing of the foster mother's call. This method induced 

 me to give the foster mother free range by letting her out 

 of the coop every morning to wander about at will. I had 

 to do a good deal of herding on account of the hilly nature 

 of the ground and the flighty temper of the foster mother. 

 The latter would often dart off up hill towards her coop 

 at a rapid pace, occasionally leaving a stray bird which 

 I had to locate by his call and carry to the coop. I 

 continued the free range method though it involved con- 

 tinual vigilance, and an amount of herding of brood dur- 

 ing showery weather. 



The foster mother, a Game Bantam was not all an 

 ideal of perfection, being wild and excitable, yet the 

 brood was doing splendidly. When about a week old 

 I lost one of the chicks mysteriously. I suspected a hawk 

 or weasel. In a few days I lost another and this time 

 was forced to the conclusion that the chipmunk was the 

 culprit. While standing perfectly still and close to the 

 coop, observing the brood feeding, a chipmunk darted 

 out from a juniper bush close by, instantly the foster 

 mother sounded the alarm, I also shouted and the offender 

 scuttled back to cover after just having missed catching 

 a chicken which he viciously struck at. I then moved 

 the coop on to more open ground, at same time con- 

 tinuously using the free range. 



I lost a third chicken and when about 3 weeks old I 

 removed the brood and foster mother close to the Bunga- 

 low where I considered they would be safer. At this 



33 



