T^! Game Breeder 



Published Monthly. Entered as second-class matter, Jul/ 9, 1915, at the Post Office, New VorkiCity, 



New York, under the Act of March 3, 1879. 



VOLUME XI 



JULY, J9J7 



SURVEY OF THE FIELD. 



NUMBER 4 



Quail Preservation. 



The matter to be surveyed with the 

 most interest this month is the decision 

 of the Conservation Commission of New 

 York denying the application for an or- 

 der prohibiting quail shooting on Long 

 Island. 



Everyone interested in the practical 

 preservation of game and in the perpetu- 

 ation of field sports in America will be 

 delighted to read that the quail will not 

 be placed in the song bird list on Long 

 Island and that the breeding of quail will 

 be continued, and the shooting will be 

 lively, not only on the grounds of many 

 quail clubs but also on the adjacent land 

 where the birds will be found because of 

 the overflow from places where they 

 have been introduced and where they are 

 properly looked after. The Game Con- 

 servation Society took an active interest 

 in this important matter and it is largely 

 due to the members of the society and 

 to the readers of The Game Breeder to 

 say that they properly presented the 

 matter to the Conservation Commission. 

 They all are much pleased with the de- 

 cision. The activity of our members is 

 well illustrated by the letter of Mr. 

 George H. Guy, printed on another 

 page. 



We are receiving many congratula- 

 tions for the good work done by the 

 society, and we take pleasure in giving 

 credit to our members for their excel- 

 lent work in answer to our letter urging 

 them to stop the proposed nonsense. 



Foxes and Grouse. 



Hon. Wm. R. Gates, Game and Fish 

 Commissioner of Michigan says: "In 



view of the fact that a genuine black fox 

 at maturity is worth in the market for 

 breeding purposes from $3,000 up it 

 would seem that any obstacle to their 

 capture should be removed." 



We suggest to the Michigan game 

 commissioner that prairie grouse are now 

 worth from $10 per bird up, for breed- 

 ing purposes, that this food bird is fully 

 as valuable from an economic point of 

 view as the ornamental furbearer — in 

 fact food may be said to be even more 

 important to all of the people than the 

 ornamental furs are. 



It is quite an easy matter to produce 

 grouse in abundance on lands used for 

 agriculture. The birds easily can be 

 reared to a marketable size for 50 cents 

 each, probably less when they are bre4 

 in large numbers in protected fields. 



Why, Mr. Commissioner, do you advo- 

 cate the taking and breeding of foxes 

 for ornaments and not the taking and 

 breeding of grouse for food? We are 

 strongly in favor of both perform- 

 ances. 



Wood-cock Scarce. 



The Michigan game commissioner 

 says in his report that woOd-cock are 

 "very scarce, an annual decrease noted." 



We have seen the wood-cock recently 

 quite near a house, not far from the 

 great city of New York. They are 

 there because a small pond and a little 

 wood-cock cover are kept quiet, safe and 

 attractive for the wild ducks, which dis- 

 appeared entirely from tht place a few 

 years ago, but which are now abundant 

 every season. 



A little farther out from New York 



