FOREST AND STREAM 
903 
Quail Questions and Queries 
Do These Birds Breed Better When Shot Over, Or is Strict 
Posting of Land Best? 
part in the economic welfare of this continent 
is very clear. How important this is, and how 
much there is to be said on the subject, may be 
inferred from the space devoted to the subject 
in the book “American Game Bird Shooting,” 
the most recent work about these birds. 
QUAIL SCARCE IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
By Peter P. Carney. 
Quail are nearing extinction in Pennsylvania, 
and according to Dr. Joseph Kalbfuss of the 
State Game Commission, nothing less than an 
absolute ban on quail hunting for two years will 
save the “bob whites” to the Keystone State 
gunners. 
Quail have been very scarce in Pennsylvania 
for two years—the severe storms of two winters 
ago killing thousands of the birds. The Game 
Commission hoped to replenish by the importa¬ 
tion of Mexican quail. In this, however, they were 
unsuccessful because the Mexican quail were dis¬ 
eased and died immediately after arriving in 
Philadelphia. Two lots of 600 birds were shipped 
from Tampico, Mexico, and every bird died. 
The Federal Government then put an end to 
any further importation, so that the Game Com¬ 
mission is at its wits’ ends to know just what to 
do. A closed season of two years appears to 
them as the best solution of the problem. Un¬ 
less a period of time is set when “bob whites” 
cannot be shot, it will not take long to depopu¬ 
late the State of the few quail that remain. 
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has been 
more successful along other lines. It has pro¬ 
cured 1,200 white tail deer, ioo elk and quite a 
number of wild turkeys and rabbits. These are 
being placed throughout the State. 
The Game Commission expects to establish six 
additional preserves this year. There are 14 
game preserves in the State now. 
working on the land or crossing the lots may 
happen to stumble on some quail. The opinion 
of the landowners as to the abundance or scarc¬ 
ity of the quail on these particular lands seems 
without much weight. 
On the other hand, there has long existed a 
belief among quail shooters that where bevies of 
quail have been pursued and shot into, and a 
part of them killed, the surviving birds are 
more likely to breed satisfactorily the next year 
than if the bevy had been left undisturbed. We 
have even heard it said that sometimes a brood 
of quail would not break up in the spring, and 
pair off as usual for breeding purposes, but 
would stick together all through the summer 
and not breed at all. We do not believe that 
this occurs. If it did, we think there would be 
better evidence of it than has been brought 
forward. 
Other sportsmen say that if a brood of quail 
is not broken up by shooting, the cock quail are 
likely to fight among themselves, and, therefore, 
disturb breeding or nesting. We doubt if there 
is anything in this. Many male birds and ani¬ 
mals fight at the breeding season, and it is not 
supposed that this fighting interferes at all with 
the processes of reproduction. 
Other sportsmen say that the cock quail in a 
covey rise first and are, therefore, killed off to 
a greater extent than the hens, but we doubt 
the accuracy of this observation as a general rule. 
On the whole, little or nothing is known on 
the points raised by our correspondent. 
The value of the quail as a destroyer of nox¬ 
ious insects and of weed seeds is now coming to 
be generally known, and it is not surprising that 
farmers and landowners, and those who legis¬ 
late in behalf of this class, should make an ef¬ 
fort to protect the quail, whose services in the 
lots and among the crops are perhaps not less 
important than those it renders to the gunner. 
The whole matter is an interesting one, and a 
great variety of opinions may be expected from 
sportsmen. 
That the gallinaceous birds play an important 
A CORRESPONDENT who recently re¬ 
turned from quail shooting in the South 
writes us that on his old shooting 
grounds he finds much of the land posted and no 
longer accessible on the old free terms. He adds 
that the owners of these farms have expressed 
to him the opinion that on the protected lands 
quail are not so abundant as in the past, and asks 
for an explanation of these conditions. He says 
that in his view the quail is disappearing as a 
game bird, a fact that he deplores; States are 
shutting down more and more on quail shooting, 
and even where shooting is still permitted, indi¬ 
viduals are posting and protecting their own 
land. Our correspondent’s views, as will be seen, 
are somewhat pessimistic. 
It is the tendency of all human beings, we 
suppose, to jump at conclusions—to generalize 
from our own experience, which is usually very 
limited and extended over a short time. The 
opinion expressed by landowners talked with by 
our correspondent seems to us of little value. 
If there is no shooting of quail on the lands in 
question, how are the landowners in a position 
to say whether the quail are more or less abun¬ 
dant than formerly. On lands regularly ranged 
over by gunners with their dogs, most of the 
bevies which live there are found and started, 
and an estimate of the number of broods may 
thus be made. On the other hand, where gun¬ 
ners and dogs are kept off, there is no way of 
estimating the bevies except as someone in 
Whether Foreign Immigrant or of Good Old U. S. A. Brand, the Quail Is a Valuable Help to the Farmer. 
