THE GAME. BREEDER 



147 



be induced to adopt them. Here they will 

 lay in safety and hatch off their broods. 

 It is important that sham partridge eggs 

 should be of the right weight, size and 

 color." 



One of our California members said in 

 an article on quail breeding that his birds 

 would lay in nests in which he placed 

 a marble. We would think that sham 

 quail eggs or infertile eggs might be bet- 

 ter than marbles. It is important to 

 know if quail often will lay to eggs placed 

 to induce them to lay in safe places and 

 we hope some of the quail breeders will 

 make experiments both with marbles and 

 with sham eggs and write the results for 

 The Game Breeder. It is such details 

 we are sure that interest our readers 

 most. 



A Little Nonsense. 



Mr. Burnham volunteered the follow- 

 ing nonsense to the members of the com- 

 mittee : 



"If a man goes from this country and 

 shoots on Andrew Carnegie's preserve in 

 Scotland he has to furnish his own am- 

 munition. He can go out there and join 

 the big pheasant shoot, where, for ex- 

 ample, a thousand or more pheasants are 

 shot in one of those drives, but he is not 

 permitted to take one of those birds away 

 with him when he leaves. The birds shot 

 on these hunting parties are put on the 

 market." 



We did not know Andrew was so close. 

 On other English preserves guests take 

 what they want to eat. Game often is 

 given to servants, small farmers, keepers, 

 beaters, etc. 



Mr. Burnham further advised the com- 

 mittee that these rich men have a definite 

 objective in sending all their game to 

 market. "And that object is to keep the 

 price of game so low in the market that 

 there is no inducement for the poacher 

 to come on their land and kill these birds 

 surreptitiously." 



We would advise Mr. Burnham to tell 

 our poultry breeders to' insist that poultry 

 be sold very cheap in order to see that 

 there be no inducement for chicken 

 thieves. We were under the impression 

 that English farmers and owners of 



country places desired to get good re- 

 turns for their crops to help pay the cost 

 of production. 



■* 



Hatching Pheasant Eggs 



Nina Almy. 



The best results are obtained by using 

 hens to hatch the eggs. It is very neces- 

 sary to keep them well dusted during the 

 period of hatching. Do not use hens with 

 scaly legs. Whenever it is possible set 

 them on the ground, make a small de- 

 pression in the ground and use sod or 

 cut straw. I have had splendid results 

 by setting a hen on a large piece of sod 

 in a building to hatch the eggs. 



Whenever it is possible, place the nest 

 under bushes, brush or other cover where 

 rain will not flood it. 



Eggs of the Chinese ringneck variety 

 require twenty-five days to hatch, they 

 may be moistened from time, to time just 

 as you would those of a hen. Do not 

 disturb the young chicks for twenty-four 

 hours after they are hatched, and unless 

 the weather is very warm, do not 

 give them any water until they are 

 a week old. The first food for young 

 pheasants may be hard-boiled eggs, 

 and they should not be fed until they are 

 twenty-four hours old. Eggs should be 

 grated through a piece of wire netting, 

 they should be fed four times a day or 

 every four hours, being careful to feed 

 only as much as they will clean up. It 

 must be kept in mind that the pheasant is 

 a light eater and naturally a wild bird, 

 and requires only from one-tenth to one- 

 twentieth part the amount a chicken 

 should be fed on. 



Instead of boiled eggs the first food 

 may consist of eggs and potatoes boiled 

 in the same kettle until the potatoes are 

 soft and the yolks of the eggs will crum- 

 ble. Mash potatoes, using two parts to 

 one of eggs. Use the same food for three 

 days, then add lettuce, onion tops or mil- 

 let. Keep plenty of green food before 

 them. If it suits your convenience you 

 may scald thick sour milk until the whey 

 and curd separate, then strain and use 

 dry curd, mixed with equal parts of 

 ground hemp and canary seed, about four 

 parts of curd to one of seed with very 



