16 



THE GAME BREEDER 



shipped long distances and that a good 

 percentage can be hatched. 



Removing Eggs from the Nests of 

 Game Birds. 



The breeder should be careful how he 

 visits and removes eggs from the nests — 

 especially from the nests of wild breeding 

 birds. He should wait until the hen 

 leaves the nest of her own accord and, 

 of course, he should leave an egg or two. 

 Infertile eggs disinfected by boiling in 

 lime water make excellent nest eggs and 

 if a few of these are marked and left 

 in the nest the fertile eggs can be re- 

 moved and hatched under hens. 



Sham Eggs. 



It is well known that domestic hens 

 will lay to nest eggs. We read a story 

 recently about a snake that mistook and 

 swallowed a door-knob, used as a nest 



It is said that where artificial nests 

 are made on the English preserves and 

 sham eggs are placed in them the birds 

 lay freely to them. By this means the 

 quick and easy collection of the required 

 number of early eggs is assured and the 

 nests may be located in safe situations. 



There are tremendous losses in Amer- 

 ica due to the destruction of nests by the 

 plow and later by the mowing and reap- 

 ing machines. If strips of grass weeds 

 and briars be left at the sides of the 

 fields and suitable nests be made in which 

 sham eggs are placed we believe many 

 prairie grouse and quail can be induced to 

 nest in safe places and the result will 

 be fine covies in the stubbles in the 

 autumn. 



Of course no farmer can be expected 

 to attend to such matters if the only in- 

 ducement is the offer of the state to li- 

 cense trespassers to shoot up his birds 

 after he produces them. We have some 

 farmers who are taking an interest in pro- 

 ducing game, believing as we do that it 

 will not be long before quail and grouse 

 can be sold as freely as pheasants, wild 

 ducks and wild turkeys and their eggs 

 now are sold by those who produce them. 

 The grouse and quail undoubtedly are 

 worth something as insect destroyers but 



they will be worth more even in this 

 capacity when they are kept profitably 

 plentiful. 



Importance of Dusting Places. 



Game birds and doves often are seen 

 in the roads where they go to dust them- 

 selves and possibly to find grit. Dur- 

 ing the incubation period dusting is quite 

 important and necessary for the hens to 

 free themselves from lice. In England 

 game birds are said to often select nest- 

 ing sites near roads on account of the 

 facility offered for the dusting. It is 

 quite an easy matter to make a good 

 dusting place near a nesting place and if 

 it be made near or in a briar patch the 

 bird will be safe from enemies when 

 taking its dust bath. Spading up a small 

 area and adding a little sand is all that 

 is necessary to make a good dusting 

 place and it has been well suggested that 

 a little insect powder in the dust bath is 

 desirable. Grit placed near the nests, 

 when found, and a little seasonable food 

 will tend to make the nesting place at- 

 tractive and to prevent the nesting birds 

 from wandering into dangerous places. 

 If there are briars near the nest by all 

 means leave them standing and a few 1 

 briars can be cut and placed about nests 

 in exposed situations. 



Remember that old traps sprung so as 

 not to catch the setting bird when placed 

 near a nest will tend to keep the fox 

 away. 



Cat briars and other briars cut and 

 laid in a broad circle should tend to keep 

 snakes from eating eggs and ground nest- 

 ing birds. We hope some of our readers 

 who own grouse in a good snake country 

 will experiment and report. ' 



Quail and Grouse Breeding. 



We hope many of our readers will 

 make experiments this year with quail 

 and prairie grouse. If they will leave 

 suitable nesting sites at the sides of the 

 fields when the fields are to be plowed 

 and take the trouble to place sham eggs 

 in nests made in the grass and weeds we 

 are confident they can induce grouse and 

 quail to lay their eggs in safe places. 

 An old stump surrounded by briars or 



