52 



THE GAME BREEDER 



be enclosed with wire netting and kept 

 quiet and safe. All game enemies should 

 be controlled and kept out. 



We especially want reports from our 

 readers who experiment with grouse and 

 quail. The safest, simplest and best way 

 to breed these birds is, of course, on a 

 large area which is made especially safe 

 and attractive by planting briars and 

 natural foods, including berries and 

 grapes ; the birds being permitted to nest 

 and rear their broods in a wild state. 

 There is an old saying that "the par- 

 tridge makes the best mother," and in 

 the older countries grouse and partridges 

 are bred wild and very little hand-rear- 

 ing is attempted. 



Pheasants and Quail. 



A reader who called at the office of 

 The Game Breeder recently reported 

 the killing of a number of quail by a 

 hen pheasant. 



Two winged quail, a cock and a hen, 

 taken in the shooting field, were placed 

 in a pen and the following summer four- 

 teen eggs were discovered, from which 

 nine quail were reared to maturity. On 

 October 31, a hen pheasant which was 

 on the place was trapped, in order to 

 prevent its being shot by trespassers, 

 and it was put in the pen with the quail. 

 The following day the pheasant killed 

 the two old quail and eight of the young 

 ones ; only one quail remained alive. 



The question of introducing pheasants 

 on quail preserves has been much dis- 

 cussed, some preserve owners entertain- 

 ing the opinion that the birds are not 

 harmonious and that the pheasants are 

 not desirable in fields where it is pro- 

 posed to have an abundance of quail. A 

 keeper at the Rassapreague Club many 

 years ago told the writer that he had a 

 good lot of quail at a time when he had 

 several thousand pheasants, and in the 

 winter he had observed repeatedly a big 

 covey of quail feeding with the pheas- 

 ants when he fed the last named birds. 

 He said the birds appeared to get along 

 nicely together. 



Upon another occasion a farmer on a 

 large game preserve in New Jersey, 

 where thousands of pheasants were 

 reared, told the writer that he had seen 

 pheasants chasing the quail in the corn, 



up one row and down another, as he 

 said. 



I have observed on several preserves 

 in which I am interested that the quail- 

 liberated in good numbers near pheasant 

 pens and rearing fields disappeared to a 

 large extent, in some cases entirely, but 

 I have never seen pheasants actually 

 fighting or annoying quail. I formed 

 the opinion that fields near enclosed 

 rearing fields and pheasant pens and, in 

 fact, near rearing fields for duck, were 

 frequented by much vermin, attracted by 

 the birds in the inclosures, arid for this 

 reason the quail moved away. I would 

 like to hear from readers who have 

 pheasants and quail what they think 

 about the matter. 



The Right Kind of Ammunition. 



The Game Conservation Society, 

 through its numerous affiliated game 

 breeding associatioris and game shoot- 

 ing clubs, and the many game 

 farmers, is responsible for the pro- 

 duction of vast quantities of game. 

 Some of the birds, of course, are 

 taken by vermin, but immense num- 

 bers are now shot. The sportsmen who 

 shoot this game should always remember 

 that it should be shot only with guns ' 

 and ammunition advertised in The Game 

 Breeder. The enthusiasm with which 

 members of the Society pull together 

 when game and eggs are purchased and 

 sold, indicates that those who profit by 

 the more game and fewer game laws 

 movement and have good shooting will 

 take our advice and support those who 

 support the cause by advertising. A lot 

 of ammunition is vised during the year 

 on game farms and preserves to control 

 vermin. Game keepers should see that 

 they have the kind which helps to make 

 their employment possible. 



More Praise. 



"Your good paper is either getting 

 more interesting or else I myself am be- 

 coming more appreciative ; perhaps I 

 have stated the truth in both cases," 

 writes one of our Colorado readers. 



It was a difficult matter during the war 

 to improve The Game Breeder. Many 

 who sent notes about their experiences 

 quit doing so because they went abroad 



