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THE GAME BREEDER 



owl will call hawks as well as crows 

 and the imitation of the crow's cawing 

 surely will bring a lot of birds if it be 

 well done. A decoy owl mounted on a 

 pole in connection with some good hoot- 

 ing or cawing surely will keep the guns 

 hot in a place where crows are abun- 

 dant. This combination easily should 

 win a Du Pont crow prize. Sauter, the 

 New York taxidermist, makes and sells 

 the decoy owl ; a little practice will make 

 a good hooter or cawer. 



More Quail. 



Mr. Montanus of the Middle Island 

 Quail Club reports the quail as abun- 

 dant and good shooting is anticipated. 

 This club has found it is not a difficult 

 matter to have good quail shooting every 

 season and to keep mischief makers off 

 of Long Island. 



Unsatisfactory Records. 



Mr. Perry of the Western Game 

 Breeders Association reports some ra- 

 ther unsatisfactory experiments with 

 eggs of aviary and game species shipped 

 various distances. We are inclined to 

 agree with him that the record "looks 

 pretty rotten." Since many have had 

 good results using eggs shipped long 

 distances the poor result reported is not 

 necessarily due to the shipping. If the 

 eggs were purchased from reliable deal- 

 ers, as they no doubt were, it would 

 seem likely that the trouble was due to 

 delays in setting the eggs or some other 

 error after the eggs were received. It 

 does not seem likely that such a large 

 percentage of eggs shipped from vari- 

 ous points and for various distances 

 should have failed to hatch simply on 

 account of the transfer. Express compa- 

 nies are not as careful as they should be 

 either in the handling of eggs or live 

 birds. Since the business promises soon 

 to be a big one because it is profitable, 

 the express companies should take every 

 care to see that eggs and birds are care- 

 fully handled in order that those who 

 may become big annual customers of the 

 express companies may have small losses 

 due to shipments. 



The Record Sent by Mr. Perry. 



From Oregon one dozen Reeves eggs 

 hatched two chicks, raised two. 



From Oregon one dozen Silver eggs 

 hatched two chicks, raised two. 



From Oregon three dozen Golden 

 eggs hatched no chicks, raised none. 



From Oregon two dozen Amherst eggs 

 hatched one chick, killed in nest. 



From Kentucky one-half dozen Swin- 

 hoe eggs hatched no chicks, raised none. 



From Kentucky four dozen Ringneck 

 eggs hatched six chicks, raised six. 



From Virginia one dozen wild turkey 

 eggs hatched no chicks, raised none. 



From Kansas nine dozen Ringneck 

 eggs hatched seven chicks, raised five. 



From Illinois one dozen Ringneck 

 eggs hatched eight chicks, raised seven. 



From Illinois one dozen wood-duck 

 eggs hatched five chicks, raised none. 



With the exception of the Illinois ring- 

 neck record the results are all bad. Any- 

 thing less than fifty per cent raised is 

 not good. The Illinois record referred 

 to is very satisfactory for a beginner; 

 in fact, most gamie keepers, year after 

 year, would be well satisfied to rear seven 

 birds from every dozen eggs set. Mr. 

 Perry adds that in his own home-pro- 

 duced eggs gave him 80 to 100 per cent 

 hatches but none of a dozen of his eggs 

 sent to Nebraska hatched. He concludes 

 "Where lies. the trouble?" 



Since Mr. Perry was brave enough 

 tc send the above record we trust some 

 of our readers will tell him where they 

 believe the trouble lies. Our guess is 

 that it is partly due to transportation, 

 partly to some local cause which can be 

 remedied when it is ascertained. 



We hope other readers will send hatch- 

 ing records. We shall publish some 

 from the Long Island Game Breeders 

 Association. 



Moose and Wolf. 



Walter Howard Eaton in the Protec- 

 tive Association Bulletin says there are 

 at present, so far as the game wardens 

 can estimate, thirteen moose wandering 

 in Berkshire, Mass., and perhaps brows- 

 ing over the range of the New York side. 



