334 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March i6, 1912 
Notes on Quail Introduction. 
Wenham, Mass., Feb. 24. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: It may be of interest to buyers of 
quail to note my experience with the importa¬ 
tion of some of these birds this winter. 
Being somewhat curious as to the localities 
from which birds were being shipped, I ordered 
small lots from three sources. 
The first lot, which arrived in good condition, 
was immediately seen to be composed of South¬ 
ern birds, although they were sold by the dealer 
as “genuine Western bobwhites.’’ Not until one 
of them died, however, and I had a chance to 
carefully compare the bird with the large series 
in the Agassiz Museum, did I realize that these 
were Texan quail. The specimen was a rather 
extreme type of the gray quail, Colinus virgini- 
auus texensis. These birds undoubtedly came 
from Southeastern Texas or were trapped across 
the line in Mexico. 
The second lot was sold as home-bred Rhode 
Island stock. These have not been carefully 
compared, but are undoubtedly Southern birds, 
though slightly different from the first lot. 
The third shipment came from Kansas City 
and were regular Kansas quail, large birds, look¬ 
ing just like our New England quail. Unfortu¬ 
nately, however, the Kansas birds were more or 
less infected with a bacterial enteritis. Some 
died en route and some soon after arrival. Ac¬ 
cording to the pathologist, the disease exhibited 
the usual appearance of the intestinal quail dis¬ 
ease, which is of bacterial origin. There were 
numerous small lesions in the lower part of the 
small intestine, and in one case a focal area of 
disease in the liver. To me, however, the most 
curious thing was the absence of emaciation in 
all these disease-killed birds. 
The Kansas quail are of course well adapted 
to New England use. All live quail are now 
very expensive, but the Mexican ones cost less 
than the others. The introduction, however, into 
our Northern Slates of these inferior Southern 
birdj cannot result in any good, and where native 
stock is present, must surely result in a detri¬ 
mental contamination. 
Quail are ranging in price from $18 to $36 a 
dozen. Perhaps $25 would be about right for 
the best stock. 
I am sure we all wish the best of success to 
Herbert K. Job in his rearing experiments with 
quail. The work of an enthusiastic bird man. 
aided by that of a trained pathologist, ought to 
result in the discovery of a successfvd technique, 
if such a thing is po'ssible. J. C. Phillips. 
A Plea for the Shooting Dog. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 20.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I believe I have found one more in¬ 
ducement to get more men who shoot interested 
in the game laws, and what goes with them, pro¬ 
tection, etc. 
How many of us have one or possibly two old 
dogs—dogs that we have shot over year after 
year, until they are as much members of the 
family as anyone in the home circle. Then, 
when they are getting on, nothing will do but 
we must have a pup from the old strain in order 
to keep it with you and pass it along to the 
youngsters growing up. 
Now, what is going to happen to our thorough¬ 
bred pointers and setters when there is no game 
to shoot? Our thoroughbred horses have gone 
because they were practically useless on account 
of a bill passed in New York prohibiting racing, 
and now we are having trouble getting mounts 
that have quality for the army. 
If the game goes, that is just what will hap¬ 
pen to our dogs, for most people do not care 
to keep a thing that is of no use to them, and 
many an old tried doggy friend will be put away 
when he passes out, with no youngster of the 
same line to take his place in the field and on 
the heath rug. 
Personally I enjoy the work of the dogs when 
shooting as much as the shooting, and many are 
the coveys that have roared off while I stood to 
one side with my camera trying to immortalize 
some particular hair-raising stand. While I re¬ 
alize that this is extremely far-fetched, I like 
to think that this article may make some fellow 
who has not become interested as yet sit back, 
take a look at the old dog, and then mutter: 
“By gum ! I believe I'll have to do something to 
help, out, after all.” Mark Hopkins, Jr. 
A Cold Night in Camp. 
Lufkin, Texas, March i.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: We have been experiencing quite a 
cold winter. The weather at no time has been 
very severe, but it has just been continuous, I 
might say, since the first week in November. I 
shall not forget in a long time the night it began 
in earnest. I was on my way through the moun¬ 
tains of Eastern Oklahoma with a party of men 
after deer and turkeys. It was a two days’ drive 
by wagon to our camping site. We closed our 
first day (Nov. 9) by making a temporary camp 
on Glover River. 
The day had been hot; I should say about 85 
degrees, and several of the party tried it in 
shirt sleeves most of the day. It was a matter 
of some discussion as to our putting up a tent 
for the night. Some thought it too much 
trouble, but the older and wiser heads had their 
way and raised the tent, which proved a bless¬ 
ing to us all, for in less than an hour after dark 
we had a visit from one of those Texas blizzards, 
and it was all we could do to keep from freezing 
even with the protection of the tent and sleep¬ 
ing like sardines in a box. Morning brought a 
fine snow and plenty of solid ice, and when we 
reached a town where we could ask about the 
thermometer, found it registered 12 degrees above 
zero. That was a cold start, but we were blessed 
with a fine trip and a successful one. 
J. L. Phillips. 
The Winter in Idaho. 
Sawyer, Idaho, March 3.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: From all appearances, winter is prac¬ 
tically over. I do not think that game has 
suffered very much along the river. 
Most of the deer are white-tail, and they are 
able to care for themselves, except when the 
snow is crusted and deep. When the crust will 
hold up a dog or wolf, then the deer suffer most. 
Grouse have wintered well. A few quail have 
wintered near Blanchard, but have had to be 
fed. Robins have wintered along the river, and 
a few mallards along the river as well. 
Last week one day the men fishing on the 
Pend Oreille Lake caught thirteen tons of 
whitefish with hook and line through the ice. 
1 hey bring from five to seven cents a pound. 
Lew Wilmot. 
California Quail. 
San Francisco, Cal., March 7.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: The open season for valley and 
desert quail ended Feb. 15, and it will now be 
unlawful to kill these birds until the middle of 
October. Practically no rain has fallen 
since the first of the year, and where ordinarily 
hunting is cut short by storms it has been pur¬ 
sued this season without interruption. The 
Fish and Game Commission, realizing that 
something must be done to increase the num¬ 
ber of birds, is planning to devote much of its 
attention this season at the game farm to ex¬ 
perimenting with the rearing of quail, and has 
had trappers at work securing birds. Quail 
taken in the Coachella Valley have been placed 
in pens at the farm. 
The open season for ducks, ibis and shore 
birds ended on Feb. 29. The commission is 
sending out a circular letter to sportsmen ask¬ 
ing their opinion as to whether changes in the 
length of the season would be advisable. The 
duck season was a uniformly good one, the 
absence of storms having permitted of shoot¬ 
ing throughout the entire open period. Geese 
are now very plentiful. 
The Marin County Game and Protective As¬ 
sociation will shortly commence an agitation 
against the tactics employed by certain interests 
to secure possession of the only open grounds 
in Marin county, where non-club members 
could hunt. Practically all of the tideland from 
Point San Pedro to Black Point has been filed 
upon as “oyster beds,” although this land is 
reported to be unfit for oyster culture, being 
soft ooze. Under the law persons are permitted 
to inclose the “oyster beds” with stakes and 
outsiders cannot then enter the inclosures. 
At the February meeting of the Fish and 
Game Commissioners the resignation of Hartley 
F. Peart as attorney was accepted, and R. D. 
Duke, of San Francisco, was appointed in his 
stead. Secretary Schaeffie reported that sev¬ 
eral elk could be secured from the Yellowstone 
National Park, and the proposition of securing 
and liberating them in the northern portion of 
the State, where there are now a number of 
native elk, was discussed at length. 
The commission’s regular monthly report for 
January follows: 
<r. 
QJ O 
c to 
C? 
^ O 
c o 
■ y 
a 
J- 
0 
C 0 
C 
53 U 
0 y 
C'C 
CO 
bo . 
<1 
CO to 
« 
CA y 
X y 
u. • — 
^ Q 
0 
H 
Searches . 
49 
49 
Seizures . 
Fish— 
32 
1 
6 
39 
Crawfish (lbs.). 
25 
25 
Crabs (No.) ... 
Nets . 
Game— 
'4 
500 
500 
4 
1 15y2lb 
1 1 deer 
1432 
Deer (2 seizures) .. 
ISVolbs. 
1 
Ducks . 
1301 
131 
Ouail . 
81 
30 
111 
Non-game birds. 
71 
71 
Shore birds .... 
62 
62 
Rabbits . 
386 
49 
435 
Arrests (fish).... 
15 
(2) 
1 
1 
17 
Game . 
43 
(14) 
5 
3 
1 
52 
License . 
12 
8 
9 
5 
27 
bines imposed... 
$9.S0 
$25 
$300 
$87 
$155 
$1522 
Fines collected.. 
$480 
$240 
$17 
$20 
$757 
Jail sentence imp.. 
5 
8 
13 
Cases pending .. 
14 
(9) 
2 
16 
Dismissed . 
1 
1 
Acquitted . 
3 
3 
Sentence susp’d 
5 
5 
On probation.. 
1 
1 
Golden Gate. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from any 
newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to supply you 
regularly. 
