110 



THE GAME BREEDER 



I am inclined to believe quail can be 

 induced to nest in places made attractive 

 as indicated. An old stump with roots 

 pointing upward as well as in a horizon- 

 tal direction, the stump being overturned 

 or laid on its side, will attract quail, and 

 post or small tree placed near it will sug- 

 gest to Mr. Bob-White the idea that 

 there is a good perch from which he Can 

 whistle to his mate. The quail ranch 

 should be heavily trapped, of course, but 

 ground traps should be sprung in the 

 daytime and pole traps should be placed 

 on high poles and in tall trees so as not 

 to catch the quail as they do if placed on 

 fence posts. 



A beat keeper going over the place 

 constantly should be able to control a 

 good part of the vermin and the briars 

 will save many birds which would other- 

 wise be destroyed. Where desirable, 

 varieties of blackberries and raspberries 

 are planted to make double hedges, or 

 briar patches in the corners of the fields, 

 the fruit should be quite worth while. 

 An experiment with these berries will 

 be made at the Long Island Game Breed- 

 ers' Association this year. One of the 

 raspberries which we will plant is adver- 

 tised in this issue and I would advise 

 our readers to try planting berry briars 

 on their quail ranches and preserves. 



A very small area spaded up will make 

 a desirable dusting place and sand and 

 ashes can be added to advantage. A 

 little grit and gravel scattered about the 

 dust bath will be attractive. Quail are 

 much given to visiting roads to dust 

 themselves and possibly to procure grit. 

 They no doubt can be induced to use 

 good dusting places near their briar 

 patches. A little corn and some wheat 

 or other grain fed to the birds in and 

 near the briars during the winter and 

 ■early in the spring should hold the birds 

 in the places where we wish them to 

 nest. Clover and lettuce seed will pro- 

 vide attractive green foods if these be 

 planted near the briars. Knowing, as 

 we do, what the quail like to eat, it 

 should be an easy matter to plant a few 

 .attractive foods suitable for the different 

 seasons. A very little planting of some 

 of the grasses, berries and grains should 



induce the quail to nest and rear their 

 broods in the places where we want 

 them. It is, of course, desirable to have 

 the birds somewhat evenly distributed on 

 the farm and this can be accomplished 

 by making numerous and very attractive 



nesting sites. 



We hope our readers who experiment 

 with quail, breeding them wild in safe 

 and attractive fields, will write some 

 good reports of their work for The 

 Game Breeder. Quail can be mated arbi- 

 trarily and they will nest and rear their 

 young in small pens. Such pens can be 

 located near small covers, such as I have 

 suggested, and the old and young birds 

 will thrive better if liberated early and 

 they will learn to escape their enemies. 



Where the farmers get a little rent for 

 the right to breed game and to shoot it 

 they are not, of course, in favor of put- 

 ting quail on the song bird list. Where 

 quail are produced abundantly on rented 

 farms, good shooting is provided every 

 year for many more guns than could 

 safely shoot, provided most of the fields 

 be unsuitable for quail as pastures, hay- 

 fields and many others are. The sports- 

 men who unite to share the expense of 

 good quail shooting not only provide 

 sport for themselves but for many others 

 since the game overflows and, of course, 

 the shooting should be kept open for 

 everybody just as it is on Long Island, 

 N. Y., where there are enough game 

 clubs and farmers interested in quail to 

 effectually prevent mischief makers from 

 putting the quail on the song bird list 

 or exterminating them, which would be 

 the natural result should the clubs be put 

 out of business. Ohio sportsmen easily 

 can restore quail shooting provided they 

 will offer to rent some of the farms and 

 the expense per gun is very small. Pos- 

 sibly it might be a good plan to have 

 some counties opened to quail shooting 

 as an experiment, or to provide that the 

 farmers may rent quail shooting if they 

 wish to do so. Many farmers, undoubt- 

 edly, would like to shoot quail and to 

 encourage the kind of shooting which 

 keeps the quail plentiful and which also 

 protects the farms against hawks and 

 crows ; and also the trespassers on whose 



