110 



THE GAME BREEDER 



attractive ground if the checks to their 

 increase be only partially eliminated, are 

 evident. 



It is absolutely necessary to employ a 

 beat-keeper to look after the birds and 

 to control their natural enemies. The in- 

 dividual or club which does not employ a 

 keeper should not shoot much, if any, 

 game since, as I have often pointed out, 

 the birds can not survive the losses due 

 to shooting and to their many enemies 

 and climate at the same time. This is 

 true a fortiori when cats, dogs, and rats 

 are numerous and when their natural 

 covers and foods are destroyed. A good 

 keeper can save most of his birds at 

 the nesting time and can see that there 

 are few losses even in severe winters. 

 Good keepers, year after year, show 

 plenty of quail to the guns which, in the 

 absence of the keepers, would have per- 

 ished. 



The duties o 

 the fields and 

 and guns they 

 where they see 

 that foods are 

 Their work is 

 of the keepers 

 and ducks. 



f the beat keepers are in 



woods, where with traps 



keep down vermin and 



that nests are safe, and 



plentiful at all seasons, 



quite different from that 



who hand-rear pheasants 



Some of the best beat keepers I know 



came from England and Scotland, and 



they quickly learned the habits of our 



quail and their enemies and easily have 



made the birds abundant on large areas. 



I recall a pleasant stroll with one of the 



htst of them. Jack Armstrong, shortly 



rtefore his untimely death. Many birds 



yliad just been shot on the ground, but the 



• dogs pointed one covey after another, at 



:short intervals, and the keeper asked 



:me if I did not think the birds were over- 



:;abundant. He referred to the black 



'snakes and hawks as among the worst 



enemies of the game and evidently knew 



how to control these and other enemies. 



I know some native keepers, also, who 

 have done wonders with the quail. The 

 requirements of a good beat keeper are : 

 An ability to shoot and trap the game 

 enemies; a knowledge of the habits of 

 the game and the particular foods and 

 covers which make the ground safe and 



attractive. Most of the keepers are good 

 dog trainers and understand how to keep 

 the dogs in good conditiofi ij and well 

 trained. A beat keeper in the older coun- 

 tries usually is given 1,000 or 1,200 acres 

 and he is expected to know the habits of 

 his birds, their nesting and feeding places 

 and how to look after them and see that 

 they have the best chance to increase in 

 numbers. Where the preserve is a large 

 one there should be a head keeper and a 

 number of under-keepers each having 

 his own beat of 1,000 to 1,500 acres to 

 look after. 



Quail need dusting places and grit as 

 well as food. They will wander from 

 places where it is desirable to hold them 

 to find a dust bath to their liking and can 

 not be expected to go without grit. Often 

 the birds resort to roads and they may 

 decide to go and remain outside of the 

 preserved area. . In potato fields, corn 

 fields and otherfe often there are good 

 dusting places, but these easily can be 

 made or improved, by spading up a small 

 area and adding a little sand or ashes. A 

 few handfuls of grit can be thrown down 

 by the keepers at intervals, yi^hen he 

 makes his rounds, and some crushed 

 oyster shells will prove acceptable during 

 the nesting period. Attention to such 

 small details will hold the birds evenly 

 distributed on the preserve and prevent 

 straying. The best and safest place for 

 a dust bath is at the edge of a briar 

 patch. 



Quail often thrive in places at a dis- 

 tance from water. They are said at most 

 times to get enough from the dew and 

 from the fruits, but it is advisable to se- 

 lect a well-watered ground for a pre- 

 serve since in very dry seasons I have 

 known quail to desert most likely fields 

 and to seek ditches and stream, often at 

 a distance. In places where there is na 

 water some poultry fountains easily maj 

 be provided in dry seasons and, no doubf 

 they will hold the birds. Grit should ba 

 abundantly supplied with the graij 

 when quails are fed in the winter. 



Since the cock bird likes a tree, pos 

 or fence from which he can whistle t\ 

 his mate during the nesting season, it il 



