54 



THE GAME BREEDER 



few shots fired at them at long range 

 sends them away unharmed and it may 

 not be necessary to destroy them. Game 

 keepers at a state game farm reported 

 that the small hawks appeared to be as 

 bad as the big ones, and it may be the)) 

 quickly acquire perverted appetites when 

 they are tempted with a good lot of 

 young quail and pheasants spread out on 

 a rearing field. 



Some years ago when visiting a pheas- 

 ant preserve we heard the game keeper's 

 . gun as we approached his rearing field 

 and he picked up a small . hawk which 

 had struck a young pheasant. He said 

 the bird had been doing this daily for 

 several days and that he decided to stop 

 the performance. 



It seemed to us then that he was, or 

 should have been, clearly within his 

 rights as the shepherd who destroys a 

 wolf is. It would be wise, undoubtedly, 

 to make it legal everywhere for the 

 game farmer to destroy enemies, when 

 observed taking his game, and we think 

 it decidedly wise for preserve owners 

 and game farmers not to destroy the so- 

 called beneficials when they appear not 

 to be taking game. One thing is cer- 

 tain, the hawks are wise birds and there 

 is no danger of their all being destroyed. 



be made, no doubt, in June and later for 

 $15 and possibly for $10 per hundred. 

 We have records of some late sales as 

 low as $10. It is a good plan to rear 

 some late birds in addition to the early 

 birds, and the performance is not so 

 difficult as some seem to think it is. 



Market Prices. 



The prices for early pheasant eggs 

 remained well up. Sales at $30 and $35 

 per hundred were reported. Those who 

 had their advertisements in early and 

 were nearest to the best markets had the 

 best results. Many people entertained 

 the idea that eggs can not be shipped 

 safely for long distances. We have rec- 

 ords, however, of thousands of eggs be- 

 ing shipped from New England to the 

 Pacific coast, and many eggs now are 

 shipped from the Western states to the 

 Eastern states. We had very good re- 

 sults with eggs which we purchased in 

 England for our experimental work. If 

 eggs will stand the railway journey to 

 the ship and the sea voyage it would 

 seem that they should stand a long jour- 

 ney by rail, provided they be properly 

 packed and properly handled. 



The common price for pheasant and 

 duck eggs is $25 per hundred for early 

 eggs, $20 for later eggs, and sales will 



Quail and Quail Eggs. 



Quail eggs have been selling for about 

 twice as much as pheasant and duck 

 eggs. Since quail are small eaters when 

 compared with the larger birds, and 

 since they lay numerous eggs when 

 penned, it is evident that the quail are- 

 very profitable. Mexican quail sold at 

 $18 to $24 per dozen for bob whites. 

 Scaled quail sold for $15 to $24 per 

 dozen and there was a demand for hun- 

 dreds of thousands of quail which could 

 not be filled. Owners of northern quail 

 did not need any advertising to sell all 

 the birds and eggs they wished to sell. 

 Some entertained the opinion that, it 

 might not be wise to advertise just yet, 

 since some game wardens do not seem to 

 yet know the difference between quail 

 owned by individuals and quail owned 

 by the state. In time, like Sunday fish- 

 ing in New York, the quail industry will 

 be so common that the laws which might 

 appear to prevent it will be repealed. 

 ♦ 



New York Laws and Federal 

 Regulations. 



Dr. Nelson, chief of the Biological 

 Survey, writes : 



"The provisions of the Federal regula- 

 tions closely follow the provisions of the 

 New York statute, with which you prob- 

 ably familiar. We refer you to Rule 

 VII, Section 33, of the Rules and Regu- 

 lations of the Conservation Commission 

 of New York, found at page 147 of the 

 compilation of the Fish and Game Code. 

 This rule does not specifically provide 

 that the mark of identification shall be 

 shaped in the form of a "V," but we 

 understand that the "V" shaped mark 

 has been universally adopted in the state. 

 The New York statute also provides 

 that ducks so killed shall be tagged un- 

 der the supervision of the Conservation 

 Commission. The provisions of the 

 New York statute, as well as those of 

 the Federal Regulations, of course, must 

 be complied with. There is no conflict 



