﻿PRESERVATION 
  AND 
  PROPAGATION. 
  21 
  

  

  and 
  raising 
  its 
  young; 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  to 
  the 
  writer, 
  dated 
  September 
  

   2, 
  1904, 
  G. 
  W. 
  Jack, 
  of 
  Shreveport, 
  La., 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  now 
  have 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  quails 
  (bobwhites) 
  which 
  were 
  trapped 
  last 
  winter 
  

   and 
  which 
  I 
  keep 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  wire 
  coop. 
  They 
  have 
  made 
  a 
  nest 
  in 
  some 
  grass 
  

   and 
  have 
  laid 
  about 
  12 
  or 
  15 
  eggs. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  were 
  laid 
  very 
  irregularly, 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  a 
  week, 
  so 
  

   that 
  by 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  nest 
  was 
  full 
  the 
  season 
  was 
  far 
  advanced, 
  which 
  perhaps 
  

   accounts 
  for 
  the 
  female 
  not 
  sitting. 
  The 
  eggs 
  were 
  set 
  under 
  a 
  hen 
  and 
  proved 
  

   fertile, 
  but 
  the 
  young 
  were 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  chicken 
  as 
  fast 
  as 
  they 
  hatched. 
  I 
  

   concluded 
  that 
  this 
  irregularity 
  or 
  slowness 
  in 
  laying 
  was 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  lack 
  

   of 
  insect 
  and 
  other 
  egg-producing 
  food, 
  as 
  the 
  birds 
  subsist 
  almost 
  wholly 
  on 
  

   grain. 
  Of 
  late, 
  however, 
  they 
  have 
  learned 
  to 
  eat 
  with 
  much 
  relish 
  the 
  yolk 
  of 
  

   an 
  egg 
  hard 
  boiled. 
  

  

  The 
  failure 
  of 
  the 
  female 
  to 
  sit 
  was 
  probably 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  unnatural 
  

   confinement 
  in 
  so 
  small 
  a 
  space, 
  a 
  difficulty 
  which 
  could 
  readily 
  be 
  

   remedied 
  if 
  attempts 
  to 
  raise 
  quail 
  were 
  made 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale. 
  

   Unquestionably, 
  too, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  necessary 
  to 
  feed 
  the 
  quail, 
  at 
  least 
  

   during 
  the 
  nesting 
  period, 
  to 
  a 
  considerable 
  extent 
  upon 
  animal 
  food. 
  

  

  An 
  instructive 
  account 
  of 
  quail 
  breeding 
  in 
  confinement 
  appears 
  in 
  

   Forest 
  and 
  Stream 
  for 
  September 
  28, 
  1882 
  (p. 
  161). 
  The 
  female 
  had 
  

   been 
  hatched 
  and 
  reared 
  by 
  a 
  bantam 
  hen, 
  and 
  this 
  circumstance 
  has 
  

   an 
  important 
  bearing 
  on 
  experiments 
  of 
  this 
  kind. 
  It 
  is 
  altogether 
  

   probable 
  that 
  bobwhites 
  hatched 
  and 
  reared 
  in 
  this 
  way 
  would 
  lend 
  

   themselves 
  to 
  experiments 
  in 
  propagation 
  far 
  more 
  readily 
  than 
  wild 
  

   birds 
  trapped 
  for 
  the 
  purpose. 
  

  

  The 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  obtained 
  three 
  pairs 
  of 
  bobwhites 
  

   from 
  Kansas, 
  which 
  after 
  five 
  months' 
  captivity 
  are 
  almost 
  as 
  

   wild 
  as 
  when 
  first 
  caged 
  and 
  show 
  no 
  signs 
  of 
  mating. 
  Experiments 
  

   in 
  the 
  domestication 
  of 
  bobwhite 
  are 
  well 
  worth 
  trying, 
  however, 
  

   because 
  of 
  the 
  demand 
  from 
  clubs 
  and 
  individuals 
  for 
  live 
  birds 
  to 
  

   restock 
  their 
  grounds. 
  So 
  great 
  has 
  become 
  the 
  demand 
  in 
  recent 
  

   years 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  estimated 
  that 
  200,000 
  birds 
  would 
  be 
  required 
  

   annually 
  to 
  fill 
  it. 
  During 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1903 
  the 
  demand 
  far 
  

   exceeded 
  the 
  supply, 
  even 
  at 
  $5 
  a 
  dozen, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  at 
  twice 
  that 
  

   figure. 
  

  

  Success 
  in 
  increasing 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  bobwhite 
  depends 
  largely 
  on 
  

   controlling 
  its 
  natural 
  enemies, 
  which 
  include 
  snakes, 
  foxes, 
  weasels, 
  

   minks, 
  skunks, 
  domestic 
  cats, 
  and 
  certain 
  hawks 
  and 
  owls. 
  Several 
  

   species 
  of 
  snakes 
  eat 
  its 
  eggs 
  and 
  young. 
  Writing 
  from 
  Texas, 
  

   Major 
  Bendire 
  says: 
  "The 
  many 
  large 
  rattlesnakes 
  found 
  here 
  are 
  

   their 
  worst 
  enemies. 
  One 
  killed 
  in 
  May 
  had 
  swallowed 
  five 
  of 
  these 
  

   birds 
  at 
  one 
  meal; 
  another 
  had 
  eaten 
  a 
  female, 
  evidently 
  caught 
  on 
  

   her 
  nest, 
  and 
  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  of 
  her 
  eggs 
  ; 
  a 
  third 
  had 
  taken 
  four 
  bob- 
  

   whites 
  and 
  a 
  scaled 
  partridge." 
  In 
  Mecklenburg 
  County, 
  Va., 
  the 
  

  

  a 
  Life 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  Am. 
  Birds 
  [I], 
  p. 
  S, 
  1*92. 
  

  

  