48 



THE GAME BREEDER 



- I have interesting experiences with my 

 black ducks, in studying their habits and 

 likes and dislikes. I almost seem to have 

 a charm for wild game and have little 

 trouble in taming them. I have one red- 

 legged black drake that was caught at 

 the lake, a large northern type, so tame 

 that he eats from my hand and follows 

 me all around the lots. He goes and 

 comes as he pleases but always hunts me 

 up directly he returns from a trip. An- 

 other black was caught last spring in a 

 rat trap, a large strong bird. He also 

 has been so tamed that he goes and 

 comes as he pleases also. My greatest 

 trouble is in getting the captured birds 

 to breed. They mate but the females do 

 not lay. Two splendid blacks on free 

 range only laid one egg each and two 

 others mated and did not lay an egg 

 this past season. All are practically free 

 on brook, swale and good range. Three 

 others would not mate but made nests 

 and set on and hatched mallard eggs. 

 One now is leading a fine flock of young 

 mallards from wild eggs, a part of which 

 she stole from the other blacks that 

 batched them. I have no trouble with 

 the mallards, but the blacks are different 

 some way. If you could suggest any 

 way to induce mating or to get them to 

 lay when they do mate I would be grate- 

 ful. 

 Vermont. F. S. Morgan. 



[Many readers report the same difficulty. 

 One season we purchased a lot of young black 

 ducks which had been bred from tame stock 

 and the birds nested' fairly well beside a pond. 

 We stole some of their eggs and hatched 

 them under hens. At many of the duck clubs 

 black ducks are hatched and reared every sea- 

 son for decoys. We hope the problem of 

 breeding large numbers , will be solved. — 

 Editor.] 



Pheasants, Game Laws and Cats. 



Editor, Game Breeder: 



I am not one of the old subscribers to 

 your valued paper, which I find of great 

 interest. 



We are not the largest producers of 

 game in the country, neither have we 

 been in the game-producing business as 

 long as many of your readers no doubt 

 have, but we have for a great number of 



years been close observers of game birds 

 in the wild state, have watched the effects 

 of different acts of legislation and laws 

 regulating sportsmen. We also have no- 

 ticed that inquiries from the East espe- 

 cially are for birds in trios when used 

 for restocking the game fields. 



Now the writer is not familiar with 

 your eastern game laws but you likely 

 have some that are very good and some 

 that, like some of ours out here, are rot- 

 ten. At least that is what I think "of 

 some of them. 



For instance, game birds are liberated in 

 trios for breeding purposes. Our game 

 laws here at this special season specify 

 that cocks only may be killed. There is 

 already a serious shortage of cock birds 

 and the large number of Chinese pheas- 

 ant eggs that failed to hatch this season 

 in this locality bears mute testimony to. 

 this fact. Next season will be worse in 

 this way unless all signs fail. 



The game breeders, as a rule, are will- 

 ing to furnish birds in .trios (at a slight- 

 ly higher price than in pairs') when 

 wanted for liberation by gun clubs or 

 state departments, but I for one serious- 

 ly question the wisdom of this procedure. 

 Take the Chinese ringneck pheasant for 

 example, he is one of our very finest game 

 birds and while polygamous in captivity 

 there is room for conjecture whether he 

 will so mate in the wild state in the 

 fields. 



I also see articles of different kinds 

 published in your paper from various sec- 

 tions of the country regarding experi- 

 ences of subscribers in game production. 

 These are all interesting but one must 

 consider that this, our country, is so vast 

 in area, presenting climatic and local 

 conditions so unlike that what is good in- 

 one place will not answer in another. 



There is one thing, however, that I 

 would suggest to every sportsman when 

 he is out hunting and that is this : When- 

 ever you see a stray cat better shoot it, 

 as it will mean probably at least fifty 

 additional game birds for next year. This 

 year I know of a cat that killed a pheas- 

 ant hen on her nest of seventeen eggs, 

 broke most of the eggs, and a few days 

 later and before I could get a shot at her 

 killed seven out Of a brood of blue qtiail. 



