14 



THE GAME BREEDER 



Caucasian man, takes a hand in destroy- 

 ing, the time of diminution and final ex- 

 tinction of any wild creature is near at 

 hand.- 



This partridge has a number of calls, 

 which it utters at various times and on 

 especial occasions, some of which are 

 very difficult to represent on paper. At 

 the commencement of the pairing season 



"Our ornithologists often have predicted and 

 deplored the extermination of game in Amer- 

 ica often assigning shooting as the cause. It 

 is true, as The Game Breeder has said re- 

 peatedly, that even a little shooting is an 

 additional check to increase which is fatal. 

 It is also true that shooting can be made to 

 keep the game as plentiful as it ever was. 

 The numerous natural enemies referred to by 

 the author destroy thousands of birds every 

 season. These are the birds the sportsmen 

 should shoot and which they safely can shoot 

 provided they do not let the snakes and other 

 vermin destroy them. By combining to form 

 shooting clubs to share the expense of looking 

 after the game propeily, birds can be pro- 

 duced in a wild state at a small expense per 

 gun. Such industry will prevent the putting 

 of quail and grouse on the song-bird list. It 

 should be encouraged and not prevented on 

 the farms now posted against sport. The sale 

 of some of the game produced will bring 

 down the cost of production and will make 

 the people who eat the game friendly to field 

 sports and not opposed to them as many now 

 are, besides the farmers. — Editor. 



it gives voice to a clear, ringing note, 

 usually uttered from some slight emi- 

 nence, which has been compared to the 

 syllables yuk-kae-ja by Capain Bendire 

 and killink by Dr. Coues, each syllable 

 distinctly uttered and the last two some- 

 what lengthened. These notes strike 

 each hearer so differently that it is im- 

 possible to write them down and convey 

 to each the impression he has received. 

 To me the three-syllabled word given 

 above more clearly describes the note as 

 it was heard by me, but doubtless many 

 others would recognize it better by the 

 word of two syllables as given by Dr. 

 Coues. This note, or cry, is equivalent 

 to the bobwhite of our Northern bird. 

 The alarm note is well indicated by Cap- 

 tain Bendire as craer, craer, frequently 

 repeated ; a rasping, harsh sound, in ut- 

 tering which many members of a covey 

 join. At other times, when disturbed, 

 a soft pect, is heard, followed on the 

 slightest alarm by a sharp quit, succeeded 

 by the pattering of little feet upon the 

 dry leaves as the covey hurries away. 

 It is a gentle, beautiful little creature, 

 and without Gambel's partridge, with all 

 its unsportsmanlike ways, many an arid 

 and rock-strewn district would be de- 

 prived of its chief attraction. 



PHEASANTS AND BREEDING. 



One of our Wisconsin readers says : "I 

 have tried an experiment new to me, but 

 which probably has been tried before by 

 many others. This year I placed on 

 four of my farms a coop of young pheas- 

 ants of my late hatchings, with a cluck, 

 near to the farmhouse and chickens, 

 where they had cover and feed, but for 

 the first week or ten days I had a little 

 chick feed put down close to the coop 

 and also kept fresh water constantly for 

 the cluck and the birds. The young 

 pheasants were, of course, at liberty, but 

 the cluck confined in an old-fashioned 

 A-shaped coop. I did the same thing 

 with four or five of my farmer neigh- 



bors, who have been very much inter- 

 ested in game propagation. 



The result up to the present time 

 (September 19) is most gratifying, as 

 the birds stay very close to the place 

 where they were put out. They remain 

 in and around the corn fields and stubble 

 and exist partly on small grain which 

 they pick up and I have had great sport 

 watching them making prey on grasshop- 

 pers which constitute their main supply 

 of food. While I am not of the opinion 

 that these birds will become domesti- 

 cated, from present indications I should 

 say they will remain sufficiently near the 

 barnyard this winter to mingle with the 



