NATURAL HISTORY. 



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REARING QUAILS IN CONFINEMENT. 



Union City, Pa. 

 Editor Recreation: 



In answer to David Shafer's questions in 

 February Recreation, would say I have 

 bred many quails in captivity, and with 

 considerable success. 



It is best to get birds late in the fall 

 for breeding-, and keep them through the 

 winter, as they lose much of their shyness, 

 it properly cared for, by spring. They can 

 be kept in a large cage or a spare room in 

 the house. 



My breeding pens were 12 feet long, 8 

 feet wide, and about 7 feet high. The en- 

 tire front and 2-3 of the roof were made 

 of woven wire, one inch mesh. The back 

 and sides were boarded up; also about 

 1-3 of the roof. The pens should have 

 no floor. To keep out rats, sink one 

 inch mesh wire netting into the ground 

 about 18 inches deep. Rats are the worst 

 enemies of young quails in captivity. Care 

 must be taken that the ground is free from 

 depressions in which the rain could form 

 pools. 



Each pen should contain a plentiful sup- 

 ply ot loose straw and prairie grass for the 

 young birds to hide in. A lot of cut brush 

 in one corner, or along one entire end, 

 makes the best resting place. 



The best results will be had by keeping 

 only one pair of adult birds in a pen. 



After they have been placed in their 

 pens they should be disturbed as little as 

 possible. 



The pens should be so built that food 

 and water can be supplied without entering 

 them. 



My hens averaged 12 eggs a setting, al- 

 though I have had them lay as many as 18. 

 A few days before it is time for the young 

 to appear I begin feeding hard boiled egg 

 and stale crackers mixed, together with 

 dried ants' eggs and plenty of seeds. 

 When the young birds appeared I gave 

 them a liberal supply of meal worms, and 

 sometimes a little boiled beef, chopped 

 fine. 



in about 6 weeks the young are able to 

 take care of themselves. Then they can be 

 removed; and, if not too late in the sea- 

 son, the old birds will at once begin laying 

 again. However, I seldom had good suc- 

 cess with the second brood. The young 

 never seemed so strong, nor did they grow 

 so fast as the first. 



I always let the hen bird do her own 

 setting, but know of several persons who 

 placed the eggs under domestic fowls. 



Mr. Will Churchman, of Indianapolis, 

 Ind., at one time raised a few in an in- 



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cubator. I think they were California 

 quails. 



Any other information Mr. Shafer may 

 desire on this subject I shall be pleased to 

 give him, either through Recreation or 

 by letter. 



C. T. Metzger. 



EFFECT OF ODORS ON ANIMALS. 



Some of the secrets the ancients prac- 

 tised on the smelling sense of animals ex- 

 ercised so powerful an influence over 

 them that the effects appeared marvellous 

 to those who witnessed them for the first 

 time. Many different plants were used to 

 get these desired effects. The catmint, a 

 white flowering plant with which we are 

 well acquainted, exhales a strong, pungent 

 odor, which is agreebale to cats. Marum, 

 or cat thyme, is a plant that grows on 

 the shores of the Mediterranean, and its 

 odor, which is agreeable to cats, may lead 

 them to tear it to pieces wherever they find 

 it. Valerian and many other plants of the 

 same nature were used as animal enticers. 



If we can put any faith in the ancient ob- 

 servers the elephant loved the sweet odor 

 of flowers, and the goat of the Caucasus § 

 mountains is so delighted with the odor* 

 of cinnamon that it will eagerly follow the 

 hand which presents it. 



No doubt the ancients practised some of 

 their secrets on the ferocity of wild beasts, 

 for in those days exoosure to wild beasts 

 was a common practice, especially in the 

 Roman empire. When the wild beasts 

 were let loose on Thecles, they did not 

 tear him to pieces, but, on the contrary, 

 they seemed as if overcome by sleep. 

 "This was due," an ancient writer says, 

 "to the spikenard, the cinnamon, the 

 precious aromatics and the perfumed oil 

 that were thrown on Thecles by the 

 women." The effect was considered by the 

 multitude a miracle, and they had ample 

 reason for thinking so, as they were igno- 

 rant of the real cause. 



In Egypt the juice of the citron, taken 

 internally, was used to work this assumed 

 miracle. According to ^lian, "a coating 

 of elephant grease is an infallible preserva- 

 tive." He relates an experiment on 2 

 wretches who were thrown to carniv- 

 orous animals. One was permitted to 

 drink citron juice, while the other was de- 

 nied that favor. The one who had drunk 

 heavily of the citron juice was saved, while 

 the other was torn to pieces. 



Fortunas, who was invested with the im- 

 perial purple at Alexandria, swam among 

 the crocodiles with safety, and he ow$d 



