11^ 



THE GAME BREifiDER 



for a long time ; and though I cannot, of 

 course, state definitely that our remark- 

 able show of wild pheasants is the di- 

 rect result of this experiment, still, un- 

 less a better explanation can be sug- 

 gested, I think myself justified in be- 

 lieving that the object with which the 

 idea was associated has been, so far as 



I can see, attained. For we have actual 

 experience of the hen pheasant sitting 

 through 60 hours of rain, and hatching 



II chicks out of 12 eggs, while two par- 

 tridges in the same covert close by (pre- 

 sumably being the smaller birds and so 

 unable to withstand the weight of rain), 

 gave up and left their nests, after 40 

 hours of the same storm. 



Our pheasants are all over the fields 

 in September, and seem to care nothing 

 about the coverts, which seems to be 

 witness of the influence of the teaching 

 of the partridge coming out in the foster 

 children. 



We shoot cocks and hens the first 

 ^ time over, without limit, and spare all 

 hens afterwards." 



In answer to a query as to the ques- 

 tion of pheasant eggs hatching before 

 those of the partridge when under a 

 common mother. Lord Verulam wrote: 



"With regard to putting pheasant 

 eggs' into partridge nests — my recollec- 

 tion is that Mr. Tegetmeier told me that 

 the period of incubation was the same 



in both partridges and pheasants, but it 

 is a long time ago, ' so I will not swear 

 positively. But whatever the period may 

 be, I started the experiment after hear- 

 ing what he said, and it seems to have 

 been successful, so I must leave it at 

 that. I never heard of eggs being left 

 in a nest unhatched, at least not in any 

 way which would be considered un- 

 usual." 



In America many experiments have 

 been made with common barnyard hens 

 or bantams for foster mothers, permit- 

 ting the young birds to run at large with 

 the hens during the day time and shut- 

 ting them up at night in their coops. 

 Birds so reared on suitable ground where 

 they are fed when the natural foods be- 

 come scarce, often provide good and 

 comparatively. inexpensive shooting. 

 Dried currants and raisins fed. with corn, 

 wheat or acorns will keep the birds on 

 attractive ground. • 



Wild rose and blackberry thickets, 

 planted at the fences and in occasional 

 small patches in attractive fields and 

 woods, will make them safe and attrac- 

 tive. Even pastures and other unattrac- 

 tive fields can be made to hold pheas- 

 ants ; but where live stock is pastured 

 on the ground the briar patches, which 

 should be used as feeding places as well 

 as nesting sites, should be inclosed with 

 a fence of some kind. 



I 

 I 



NOTES FROM THE GAME FARMS AND PRESERVES. t 



Mallard Breeding. 



George A. Buckstaff says: "The great 

 marshes a few miles from' our farm 

 attract thousands of wild mallard ducks. 

 We draw on the wild flocks for fresh 

 blood in our domesticated flock. Mal- 

 lards are the most easily raised and most 

 profitable as a table poultry of any fowl 

 we know. As decoys they are perfect. 



A mallard hen will lay her eggs in a, 

 brush pile, under a shrub or in other 

 secluded place, hatch her brood of . a 

 dozen or fifteen, raise them until they 



are a month old and half grown before 

 coming back to the farm yard for feed. 



Mr. Buckstafif quotes Prof. J. C. Hal- 

 pin as saying that the domesticated mal- 

 lards retain many of the instincts pe- 

 culiar to their wild nature. When the 

 mother duck and ducklings are out in 

 the field, let a strange object approach, 

 and with one quack the little brown birds 

 hide in the grass close to the earth. Lit- 

 tle food' is given his mallards because 

 "they fatten quickly and become lazy." 



One hundred and fifty-two skunk 



