THE GAME BREEDER 



137 



HOW TO PRESERVE QUAIL. 



By General George W. Wingate. 



Many schemes have been devised for 

 the preservation of quail, such as the 

 destruction of cats and vermin, feeding 

 the birds, and preventing shooting out 

 of season, all of which have their merits. 



There is another method, however, 

 which experiment has proved to be supe- 

 rior to all of them, and one I have never 

 seen mentioned; that is, the housing of 

 the birds during the winter season. Dur- 

 ing this period they are almost helpless ; 

 their food supply is bad and is often 

 cut ofif by snow, the snow not only pre- 

 venting the birds from getting food but 

 gravel. When heavy snow is followed 

 by freezing, sleet forms, which prevents 

 the coveys which have been covered dur- 

 ing the night from escaping, and a hud- 

 dle of bones in the spring indicates 

 where a big covey has perished. Their 

 tracks on the snow also permit their 

 enemies to follow them, particularly boys 

 and tramps, one shot from whom will 

 destroy a whole covey. 



Those clubs, especially on Long 

 Island, who have spent thousands of 

 dollars to stock their grounds, find that 

 the destruction of the quail in winter is 

 far greater than at any other time of the 

 year. They have also found that how- 

 ever dififtcult it may be to retain quail 

 in captivity during the summer, this is 

 not the case during the winter ; that if 

 the quail are trapped and put into a 

 good-sized pen covered with wire, and 

 fed and cared for, they are quiet, will 

 not injure themselves, and will be pre- 

 served from the elements and their 

 enemies and come out in the spring in 

 splendid shape. The practice is then to 

 take them in pairs and put each pair 

 into a small coop in a neighborhood 

 where it is desired to have a covey, and 

 after they have been there a few days 

 with food and water, so as to have be- 

 come accustomed to their surroundings, 

 liberate them. In practically every case 

 where this has been done a good covey 

 has been found to be the result. 



Undoubtedly this practice is opposed 



to the laws of many States, which pro- 

 hibit the trapping of quail. This diffi- 

 culty, however, should be obviated in 

 the same way as is done in respect to 

 the laws affecting the raising of mallard 

 ducks, pheasants and other birds — that 

 is, by modifying the law so that the Con- 

 servation Commission, Game Warden or 

 other officials who are vested with 

 authority in the matter will have the 

 discretion of issuing to clubs and others 

 whom they consider to be satisfactory 

 a license to trap and keep quail for pur- 

 poses of protection and propagation un- 

 der such regulations as such authorities 

 may prescribe in order that the privilege 

 may not be abused. 



If this is done experience demon- 

 strates that there will be an increase in 

 the number of quail which will be found 

 in the spring of three times what it is 

 under the present law which prevents 

 any kind of trapping. It will be ob- 

 served that the fundamental principle in 

 this is to vest in the authorities — and not 

 to open the door to everybody — such dis- 

 cretion. These officials will undoubtedly 

 use a sound discretion in granting 

 licenses, and if this is done the benefits 

 which will result will be far greater than 

 any evils which possibly could arise. 



New York, January 5, 1918. 



Hail in Kansas. 



A dispatch from Reamsville, Kansas, 

 says the drifts of hail stones last July 

 were so huge that farmers were able to 

 scoop the stones up in great quantities 

 and pack them in caves to be used as ice 

 during the hot season. The stones range 

 in size from a marble to a hen egg and 

 melted into compact masses keep as well 

 as ice stored in winter. 



We wonder if the hail killed many 

 prairie grouse and quail. 



You can get better prices than ever 

 before if you will send a small ad- 

 vertisement oflfering the products of your 

 game farm. 



