C . F . H O D G E 
n 
reason. Thousands of nests are cut over or disturbed and 
deserted every year in the harvest and hay field, and with 
knowledge of the great value of the birds and of how to 
rear the chicks, the boys and girls of the country might save 
many of these eggs, now wasted, start a race of tame bob- 
whites, work everywhere for intelligent conservation of the 
birds, and within ten years have them, properly appreciated 
and protected, in every garden and farm in, at least, the 
natural range of the species. Is it too much to ask of nature- 
studv that it do just this service for the country and for the 
bob white? 
The first thing to know is that the eggs may be carried 
at any stage of incubation in a hat worn on the head, and 
for hours, if necessary. The writer has had ruffed grouse 
eggs carried thus—walking and riding in trolleys and trains 
—from nine in the morning until nearly seven in the even¬ 
ing, and a few days later every one hatched. One clutch 
actually hatched successfully in the hat of a man who was 
bringing them home. After making a portable incubator, 
with hot water bottle, thermometer and alcohol lamp, they 
were all discarded after trying this easy method, and it has 
left nothing to be desired. Most people wear hats—felt are 
the best for this purpose, but straw hats have often served, 
with a handkerchief laid in the crown to retain the heat— 
and any eggs may be kept warm and transported by the 
hat method and thus saved, which would otherwise go to 
waste. 
The law of all preserves is, “The beginning of game pro¬ 
tection is extermination of vermin.” Obeying this rule, 
when the writer began raising the birds on his place, every 
rat was killed, every skunk—seventeen were trapped on a 
