108 



THE GAME BREEDER 



to confinement readily and lost their first 

 wildness in a short time, though they 

 retained their instinct to hide. It was 

 a pretty sight to see the birds running 

 about in the straw, under the dry ce- 

 dars, and dusting in the sand in the sun- 

 light on a cold day when snow was 

 heaped high outside the brood house. 



Quail Breeding at Marshfield. 



The quail trapped by the Massachu- 

 setts Commission were placed in breed- 

 ing pens at the Marshfield Bird Farm. 

 The following description of the breed- 

 ing experiment is from the excellent re- 

 port of the Fish and Game Commission. 

 The breeding pens were located in a 5- 

 acre piece of natural quail cover. The 

 brook separated it from the game farm, 

 and a locked gate kept visitors out, as 

 the birds must be undisturbed during 

 the breeding season. The pens were 8 

 feet square made of one inch mesh wire 

 netting, frame painted. Tarred paper 

 on north and east sides kept out the 

 winds, and a bundle of straw arranged 

 in this corner formed a natural hiding 

 place and shelter from the rains and 

 cold. The tops were covered to keep out 

 vermin. The pens were located on 

 grassy spots, and each contained a bunch 

 of growing bayberry bushes for cover 

 and feed. An old stump was provided 

 also, as the cock quail likes to stand on 

 this and whistle. The hen bird likes 

 to build her nest in the old grass, leav- 

 ing so small an entrance to the nest as to 

 make it difficult to discover even on 

 close inspection. This is as natural a 

 sort of cover as can be gotten for quail. 

 Each pen contained finely ground oyster 

 shells, charcoal and sand, and was sup- 

 plied with fresh feed and drinking water 

 every day by the superintendent. No 

 one was allowed near the pens. When 

 the quarters were ready the birds were 

 paired. A cock'bird caught on the land 

 of A would be mated with a hen bird 

 from the land of B, 10 miles away. (The 

 birds were marked with different colored 

 celluloid rings indicating the land where 

 taken.) There were twenty pens with 

 a pair of birds in each. The pens were 



numbered, and as the eggs were taken 

 out they were marked with the pen num- 

 ber. This was done to keep track of the 

 fertility. 



With the quail in the yards the war 

 with vermin began. A close watch was 

 maintained at all times and traps set, 

 and as a result of constant care no birds 

 were lost from this cause. 



As fast as enough eggs for a setting 

 were secured they were placed under 

 bantams for incubation. The total laid 

 was 384 of which 131 were infertile. 



Laying proceeded from May 15 to 

 August 10, when 42 of the 44 trapped 

 birds were liberated. At the time all 

 were laying and the chances are that 

 most of them made nests in the open, as 

 several flocks of young birds have been 

 seen in the localities where they were 

 freed. Four lots of six adult quail each 

 were distributed to owners of land from 

 which quail had been taken ; the re- 

 mainder of the trapped birds were turned 

 loose in the Marshfield Reservation. 



Of the 384 eggs collected 253 hatched. 

 Thirty-four of the young birds escaped, 

 112 were lost in the course of rearing, 

 and 107 reached the age for liberation. 

 Some of these were liberated on land 

 where birds had been trapped in the 

 spring, and where the cover was partic- 

 ularly suitable, and others were sent out 

 as part of our general distribution. In 

 three cases the hen built two nests and 

 laid in each, which fact was not known 

 until the superintendent discovered the 

 young from the stolen nests, which had 

 been incubated by the cocks. The broods 

 consisted of 13, 9 and 4. respectively. 

 In one case the chicks were not discov- 

 ered until they were so far advanced 

 that the tail feathers had started. Each 

 pair of quail and the chicks were imme- 

 diately liberated, and the station has 

 taken no credit for the rearing of these 

 birds, counting them as though hatched 

 in the wild. 



Wood Pigeons. 



The wood pigeons are so abundant in 

 England that they are said to be a nuis- 

 ance. Now that the shipping facilities 



