It) 



THE GAME BREEDER 



well to the dog as the bobwhite of the 

 Eastern States does. Mr. Grinnell, in 

 his chapter on the bobwhite, referring 

 to the Texas quail which is somewhat 

 smaller and lighter in color than the 

 Northern and Eastern quails, says, 

 "The uneducated birds of the Southwest 

 do not furnish the same sport furnished 

 by birds frequently pursued, but show 

 the disposition to run before the dog 

 exhibited by the other quail of the dry 

 country — Gambel's, the scaled and the 

 valley quails." 



We have never heard complaints about 

 the running of bobwhites in Texas and 

 we are inclined to believe that the quail 

 shot today lie well to the dog, but it 

 would be interesting to hear from our 

 Texas readers if there are still any bob- 

 whites which are sufficiently uneducated 

 to run away before the dog. 



The distinguished ornithologist, the 

 late Dr. Elliot Coues, expressed the 

 opinion that probably the Northern quail 

 of the Eastern United States once were 

 . runners. Writing about the blue or 

 scaled quail in Arizona he says: "It 

 generally trusts to its legs rather than 

 its wings, though these are not at all 

 deficient in size or strength. On level 

 ground it glides along with marvelous 

 celerity, and makes good progress over 

 the most rocky and difficult places. As 

 a consequence it is rather difficult to 

 shoot fairly, though it may be 'potted' in 

 great style by one so disposed; and it 

 will probably require several generations 

 in training before it can be taught to lie 

 well to a dog. I am inclined to think, 

 indeed, that the lying of quail, an es- 

 sential feature for the chase in its per- 

 fection, is almost as much a result of 

 education as the 'pointing' that the in- 

 telligent brute who helps us kill, them 

 has learned. In a primitive and strictly 

 natural condition, quail, as a general 

 rule, rather use their legs to escape pur- 

 suit than squat and attempt to hide. That 

 the reverse is the case with the Virginia 

 quail I am perfectly aware, but this 

 proves nothing to the contrary, and I 

 am inclined to think its crouching, till 

 almost trodden upon, to be an acquired 

 trick. This would surely be a poor way 



of escape from any of its natural ene- 

 mies 1 — any carnivorous bird or mammal ; 

 yet they found it to succeed so well 

 against their chief persecutor, that he 

 has had to call in the aid of a sharper- 

 sighted, sharper nosed brute than him- 

 self, else he might stumble over stubble- 

 fields all day without seeing a bird, ex- 

 cept by accident. I presume that Vir- 

 ginia quail, in. the days of Captain Smith 

 and Pocahontas, were very much in the 

 social status of the Arizonian today; 

 and these certainly trust to their legs 

 and wings rather than to the artifice of 

 thrusting their heads in tussocks of grass 

 and then fancying they are safe." 



The experiments with the Gambel's 

 quail being made this year, at the Long 

 Island Game Breeders' Association game 

 farm, we hope will prove if these run- 

 ners can be taught good sporting man- 

 ners and to lie well to the dog. Since 

 the place was started very late in the 

 season I fear that many of the young 

 quail may not survive because they may 

 not be large enough to stand the cold if 

 we have an early winter or early cold 

 storms in the autumn. 



The following is front a bulletin is- 

 sued (1885) by the U. - S. Department 

 of Agriculture: "The question is often 

 asked whether the habit quail have of 

 lying to the dog is natural or acquired. 

 To get a satisfactory answer one has 

 only to hunt in different parts of Indian 

 Territory (now Oklahoma). In the re- 

 gion west of Fort Sill the quail never 

 think of stopping when they see a dog, 

 but run as fast as possible, and upon- his 

 near approach they flush immediately, 

 just as one may suppose they do on the 

 approach of a coyote. In the eastern 

 part of the Territory, near the railroad, 

 the quail lie quite well to a dog and, as 

 they are exceedingly abundant, excel- 

 lent sport may be had from November 

 until March." 



The Use of Incubators. 



An incubator helps the keeper to cope 

 with the whims and frailties of brood- 

 ing hens. It is always ready to receive 

 those unexpected eggs which may be 

 brought to his cottage at any moment. 



