THE GAME BREEDER 



23 



fowls. The enemies of the grouse and controlled by shooting and trapping. I 

 quail will gather quickly when the birds shall refer to these enemies in another 

 are made plentiful and these must be paper. 



A BOBWHITE STORY. 



By Rev. C. W. Siegler. 



[The following story about the successful breeding of quail was written to Mr. Clyde B. 

 Terrell, one of our Western advertisers by a reader of the Game Breeder. — Editor.] 



locked up on our porch; but two were 

 missing. Very likely they were killed 

 by the children when chasing and catch- 

 ing the others. I kept the birds a few 

 weeks longer. They were now full 

 feathered and could fly but they never 

 thought of leaving our garden. . 



What I feared at length happened. 

 One morning I heard a little quail 

 screaming loudly for help. When I ran 

 out I saw our neighbor's cat after it. She 

 had taken all of the birds excepting this 

 one. I took it down in a neighboring 

 wood but when it continued to call loudly 

 for its foster mother I put the bantam in 

 a box and carried her down to the wood. 

 The quail at once noticed her call and 

 went into the box. Evidently it is very 

 fond of its foster mother. It is very 

 nearly full grown and able to look out 

 for itself. 



Now what do you think of our Wis- 

 consin law ? Do you not think it should 

 be as legitimate to keep game birds in 

 captivity as the breeding of any of our 

 domestic birds is ? Is it not your opinion 

 that our State should have a game 

 breeders' law the same as the model 

 game law of Indiana? Enclosed I send 

 you a copy of this. 



Had the State given me the right to 

 keep the quails in captivity I would have 

 the entire flock to-day, and I would en-, 

 joy having them and saving them for the 

 State. But I conserved them for our 

 neighbors cat! 



This much I have learned : I can raise 

 quail from eggs just as easily as I can 

 raise pheasants. 



Let me tell you about my success 

 with my quails. A farmer gave me 

 fourteen eggs which he found while cut- 

 ting grass in the orchard The nest had 

 been disturbed and as the eggs were 

 right in the pathway they certainly would 

 have been stepped on. I took the eggs . 

 and put them under a bantam and two 

 days later I had fourteen little quail. 

 The first two weeks I kept them in 

 captivity and fed them small ants and 

 their eggs, egg custard, and finely cut 

 lettuce. They did well on this food and 

 we could see them growing bigger and 

 stronger every day. A very happy and 

 pretty little flock they were. 



I wrote to the Conservation Commis- 

 sion of Wisconsin and asked their per- 

 mission to raise the birds, promising to 

 report to them frequently to let them 

 know what success I had. But they an- 

 swered that I must not keep them in con- 

 finement but must allow them to run at 

 large with the hen. 



I let them run in my garden where 

 they became so tame that they would 

 follow my children wherever they would 

 play. 



I went to Minnesota with my family 

 for a two days' visit, and, during our 

 absence the quail evidently became very 

 lonesome and missed the children. So 

 one day they all went over to a neigh- 

 bor's house, across the street, and march- 

 ed into their summer kitchen, causing 

 great excitement. All the children in 

 the neighborhood came to help catch 

 them and bring them back to my place. 

 When I returned home I found the birds 



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