NATURAL HISTORY. 



55 



Equine Deer, in exchange, from the Phil- 

 adelphia Zoological Gardens ; 2 Guenon 

 Monkeys, 2 Squirrel Marmosets, 1 Colum- 

 bian Black-Tailed Deer, 6 Kangaroo Rats, 

 3 Minks, 2 European Brown Bears, pur- 

 chased. 



Birds. — 2 Jungle Fowl, gift of Homer 

 Davenport; 2 Black-winged Peacocks, gift 

 of Homer Davenport; 2 German Nightin- 

 gales, gift of Louis Fleischman; 1 Blue- 

 fronted Parrot, gift of P. Kelly; 3 Quail 

 or Bobwhite, gift of Mrs. Helen Mtitz ; 4 

 Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and 4 

 Black-crowned Night Herons, gift of C. 

 D. Brown ; Ring-necked and Peacock 

 Pheasants, received in exchange ; 2 Black 

 and 3 Turkey Vultures, purchased; 12 

 Brown Pelicans, 7 Indian Peacocks, 2 

 Javan Peacocks, 2 Sandhill Cranes, 4 

 American Flamingoes, 12 Magpies and 2 

 Great Blue Herons, purchased. 



Reptiles. — 1 Cuban Boa, gift of General 

 Daniel E. Sickles, and another of same 

 species, gift of J. A. Ruiloba; collection 

 of 17 rare lizards from the canons of 

 Northern Arizona, gift of Barnum Brown; 

 collection of 12 Florida snakes, gift of 

 Thomas Barbour ; 2 African Rock Py- 

 thons, 2 Black-tailed Pythons, 2 Bull 

 Snakes, 7 Texas Coachwhip Snakes, 28 

 Horned Toads, 6 Rainbow Snakes and 24 

 snakes of various species from South Car- 

 olina, purchased ; 409 serpents and lizards, 

 representing 24 species collected in Hamp- 

 ton County, South Carolina, by R. L. Dit- 

 mars and Charles Snyder. The following 

 specimens have been born or hatched 

 from eggs in the Reptile House : 33 Chick- 

 en Snakes, 47 Black Snakes, 11 Ribbon 

 Snakes, 15 King Snakes, 29 Florida Gar- 

 ter Snakes, 23 Cotton Mouth Moccasins, 

 11 Copperhead Snakes and 6 Banded Rat- 

 tlesnakes. 



BREEDING PHEASANTS AND QUAILS. 



Santa Cruz, Cal. 

 Editor Recreation : 



I raised, last season, from 3 hen pheas- 

 ants, about 60 young birds, all of which 

 are doing well. I hatch the eggs under 

 bantams. The chicks are put in a pen 

 2x4x7 feet, the sides and top covered 

 with one-inch mesh wire. In one end of 

 the pen I place a box about 2 feet wide 

 and the width of the pen. The front of 

 the box is closed with slats, just far 

 enough apart to permit the chicks to run 

 through. Build the pen where the sun can 

 reach it as much as possible. Feed the 

 chicks finely chopped hard boiled eggs, 

 chick weed, lettuce and maggots. The last 

 can be had without much trouble by plac- 

 ing a piece of meat where it will be fly 

 blown and then burying it in a tub, cov- 

 ered with moist bran. The chicks should 

 be fed after the first 2 weeks and have 

 plenty of clear water. Pheasants will 



breed satisfactorily in confinement, if left 

 to hatch and raise their own young. 



Quails, also, can be raised in confine- 

 ment, but will do better in the field if not 

 disturbed. That, at any rate, is the case 

 with Eastern Bob White when bred in the 

 V/est. I am exchanging California valley 

 quails for Bob Whites, which I turn out 

 where they will be afforded good protec- 

 tion. 



Like yourself, I am spending every dol- 

 lar I can raise for the protection of game 

 and fish. I am organizing county fish and 

 game protection associations, and they are 

 doing much good work. I want to see 

 every county compelled to appoint a game 

 warden. Persons who have no regard for 

 the law should be made to obey it. I want 

 to see a county license law in force, and, in 

 addition, a State license as well. Those, 

 coupled with the laws we now have in this 

 State, would solve the problem of game 

 protection. A person who can afford to go 

 from one county to another to hunt can 

 afford to pay to the county of which he is 

 not a resident and in which he wishes to 

 shoot, a small license fee. The sale of all 

 game should be prohibited, and the bag 

 should be limited. 



I wish Recreation and the League of 

 American Sportsmen all kinds of success, 

 for in them is our only hope for efficient 

 game protection. Walter R. Welch. 



A FRIENDLY GROUSE. 



How is this for a companion piece for 

 your nighthawk, or whip-poor-will, episode? 

 Yesterday morning my neighbor, Mr. C. A. 

 Briggs, saw a large bird flutter against my 

 porch screens and fall to the ground. 

 Walking across the lawn, he found a full 

 grown ruffed grouse, which he captured 

 and kept until noon. As I was going in 

 the country in the afternoon, I invited Mr. 

 Briggs to join me, and we took the bird 

 with us and released it in an ideal resort 

 for its kind, in the native brush and tim- 

 ber, unfrequented by hunters, some 5 or 6 

 miles from this city. When released it 

 flew gently to the ground, alighted but a 

 few feet from the buggy and showed so 

 little fear and such assurance that I doubt- 

 ed its ability to take care of itself; but it 

 soon began to strut and move through the 

 brush with t^at familiar p-r-r-t, p-r-r-t, ap- 

 parently saying, "You are all right and I 

 knew it all the time." To make sure that 

 we w T ere not abandoning a wounded bird 

 to become the easy prey of its manv nat- 

 ural enemies, Mr. Briggs alighted and put 

 the bird up, when it quickly and satisfac- 

 torily demonstrated its ability to handle 

 itself perfectly, although it showed no ap- 

 parent haste to part company, and only 

 flpw a short distance before settling down. 

 We could not wholly exclude the idea that 



