20 



THE GAME BREEDER 



hens before the snow was well off the 

 ground. 



"It was at first thought that some 

 of the chickens would be left to nest 

 in the wild and some kept in restraint 

 so that their eggs could be placed under 

 barnyard hens. But with the disappear- 

 ance of) 6 of the 12 hens, it was decided 

 to put all the eggs under domestic hens. 

 The barnyard hens proved too heavy for 

 the prairie fowl eggs and a number 

 were broken. The bantams were so scarce 

 that they were all kept on quail eggs. 

 Even after the young prairie chickens 

 were hatched it seemed as if the trouble 

 had only started. These birds, when 

 young, showed themselves more suscep- 

 tible to disease than any of the other 

 varieties. The damp ground gave them 

 colds and croup and it seemed as if no 

 food quite met the requirements of their 

 stomachs. In fact, it was proved to Mr. 

 Bhir's satisfaction that Big Island is too 

 damp a place for the rearing of prairie 

 chickens. One by one the birds died off 

 or fell victims of 'vermin,' in which class 

 is put hawks, owls, weasels, skunks, cats 

 and insects. The 'jiggers' got a lot of 

 the birds. 



"Today there are just three of this 

 year's prairie chicken flock left and they 

 have a weather eye on the sky all the 

 time for the swooping hawks and owls. 



"Quite a number of the old birds still 

 are on hand, as they seem able to resist 

 damp ground and cold nights. 



" 'The prairie chicken venture does 

 not look very good,' said Mr. Blair. 'But 

 we have learned a lot by our experience 

 of this year, and with proper ground 

 could breed both the chickens and par- 

 tridges in great numbers.' " 



» 



Quail Breeding in Minnesota. 



Mr. Blair, in the interview quoted 

 above, says : "The experience with 

 these birds (quail) shows a better pro 

 rata harvest than with any other kind 

 of bird. Quail eggs were purchased and 

 put under bantam hens. In addition to 

 this, quite a number of quail were 

 turned loose on one end of the island 

 to do their own nesting. 



"If there had been more bantams 

 available there would have been a bigger 



effort made to raise quail. But bantams 

 are scarce. In fact, the league is now 

 raising its own bantam hens. Both the 

 quail left to do' their own domestic busi- 

 ness and the quail hatched out by the 

 bantams have done nobly. Those raised by 

 bantams are as tame as can be. When 

 Keeper Daily starts off with his bucket 

 of feed he need not whistle up his quail. 

 They see him from afar and outdistance 

 the old hen in reaching the 'supper man.' 

 "The quail raised in the wild are not 

 so tame, but they probably have a sneak- 

 ing liking for the keepers." 



Cat Aftermath. 



We have published much about the 

 destruction of game by cats. Owen 

 Jones, in his excellent book, "Ten Years 

 of Game Keeping," says: "No decent 

 keeper ever dreams of interfering with 



cats that don't poach." 



♦ 



Ferrets. 



We invite our readers' attention to 

 the advertisements of ferrets in this issue. 

 Often we have had inquiries for ferrets 

 and it is an advantage to our readers 

 to know where they can purchase them. 

 Rats are one of the worst enemies of 

 wild ducks and other game on game 

 farms and preserves and the ferrets are 

 one of the best aids to game keepers 

 and game farmers who would keep down 



the rats. 



• 



Do It Today. 



We strongly advise all preserve own- 

 ers, game keepers and game farmers to 

 write to The Oneida Community, Ltd., 

 Oneida, N. Y., and ask for their cata- 

 logue of traps, also for an illustrated 

 booklet, "The Newhouse Trapper's 

 Guide." The booklet is full of good 

 stories about the fox and other enemies 

 of game and how to trap them. We, of 

 course, wish to give our new advertiser 

 an idea that there are some game farms, 

 game keepers and preserves in America. 

 You will please us and get a good picture 

 book about vermin if you will write as 

 we suggest. Do it today. The address is 

 Oneida Community, Ltd., Oneida, N. Y. 

 Sign your letters and post cards, "Yours 

 for more game." 



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