THE GAME BREEDER 



57 



(Continued from page 52.) 

 has a wide range, mainly due to their 

 different temperatures. When more is 

 found out about these variations in tem- 

 peratures of the game birds, it may be 

 that incubators can be so arranged that 

 they can be made to produce better re- 

 sults. 



A great interest was taken in the dis- 

 tribution of pheasant eggs for the first 

 time by the state and the demand for 

 eggs could not be supplied. The success 

 of those who received eggs was fairly 

 good, considering that it was the first 

 experience that almost all had in hatch- 

 ing and rearing pheasants. Quite a 

 number blamed their failures on infer- 

 tile eggs. This could not have been 

 the trouble in all cases reported, as re- 

 ports from others more successful show, 

 and as does the report of hatching on 

 the game farm. Most of the trouble, as 

 reports show, was that many of the hens 

 used were not free from mites and in- 

 sects. In some cases the kind of nests 

 and coops used were not suitable. The 

 loss of birds hatched by individuals can 

 be attributed to the following causes : 

 open coops and yards, allowing young 

 birds to get away from the hen too soon ; 

 tramped by heavy hens ; wrong kind and 

 too much feed ; fouled ground ; pet dogs 

 and cats; lice and mites; weasel, and 

 one report stating that English spar- 

 rows killed three young pheasants. 



In but very few instances we"? in- 

 structions followed carefully and in these 

 few very good results were obtained. One 

 individual reared 25 out of a hatch of 

 28 birds. Another had a hatch of 24 

 birds out of 30 eggs. One distributed 

 his eggs to neighbors and kept tab on 

 them, reports 105 birds reared out of a 

 hatch of 136 birds. This is the best re- 

 port in number of birds reared from any 

 consignment of eggs. 



Vermin or Predatory Species Killed. 



August 1, 1916, to November 15, 1917. 



HAWKS. 



Sparrow 29 



Copper 19 



Broad-winged 16 



Red-tailed 14 



Goshawk 26 



Sharp-shinned 4 



Ferruginous rough-legged. 1 



Prairie; Falcon 1 



OWLS. 



Great Horned 71 



Barred 16 



Screech 9 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Weasel 9 



Crows 12 



Mink 3 



Redheaded Woodpeckers. *65 



House Rats *215 



Garter Snakes . *550 



^Estimated. 



Ducks Eat Substitutes. 



Ducks, as well as humans, must eat 

 substitutes. 



Small potatoes, too small in fact for 

 the farmer to have paid any attention 

 to ordinarily, are said to have solved the 

 problem when mixed with carrots and 

 other materials, minus wheat. 



"No wheat is to be used for duck feed- 

 ing," said W. B. Ayer, Oregon Food 

 Administrator. "Substitutes must be 

 found, and I am told that patriotic own- 

 ers of duck lakes have discovered a rem- 

 edy and have applied it. They are pay- 

 ing high prices for small potatoes which 

 in former days would not have been dug 

 at all. These they are mixing with oth- 

 er materials and the ducks are thriving 

 on them." 



♦ ■ 



New Sporting Weekly. 



The first issue of the National Sports 

 Weekly has just made its appearance in 

 time to catch the opening of the baseball 

 season. 



It is published and edited by Shepard 

 G. Barclay. 



The new weekly features baseball, 

 billiards, golf, tennis, automobiling, trap- 

 shooting, hunting, fishing, boxing, rac- 

 ing and other branches of clean sport. 



Muskrats in Bohemia. 

 Introduced into Bohemia twelve 

 years ago, the American muskrat has 

 spread over a wide area and now is re- 

 garded as a serious pest, the government 

 advocating the destruction of the animals 

 wherever found. 



