The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-09-05
TANNING A FLOCK OF oUAILs.
Buckwheat and Gradual Advances
Conquer the Wild Birds.


From the Neu York Sun.
SCRANTON, Aug. S0-Several weeks ago
Mrs. D. \. Snyder Of Jefferson township
saw lot of quails busting themselves under
some currsnt bushes in the back end OF her
garden. The birds looked so happy and
contented that she thought il would be TOO
bad to disturb them, so she returned to the
house without pulling the weeds out of a
patch of onions that she had gone there for
the purpose Of doing. In az hour or so the
quais had disappeared in the tall timothy
of the adjoining meadow, and Mrs. Snyder
scattered some buckwheat around where
they had been wallowing. On the following
day the birds came there again, gobbled up
the buckwheat, and had a good time
Every day for week or 90 Mrs. SNYDER
scattered grain among the bushes for the
quails TO feel on, and the BIRDS soon got so
that they looked for food in the garden as
regularly as they did for a resting place at
night out in the woods, back of the b z
meadow lot
One morning the kind-bearted woman
forgot to throw the buckwheat, but the
quails reminded her Of her negligence by
appearing at the usual hour and making a
great fuss and noise because there wasn't
any grain in the garden for them to PICK
up. Mrs. Snyder let the birds hunt for
other kinds of food that day, and for several
mornings after that she didn't fail to give
them a good feed OF buckwheat. Then she
missed morning on purpose to see how the
Quails would act when they didn't find any
grain near the currant bushes, watching
from a second-story window for them to
make their appearance.
Promptly on time the whole flock creot
under the garden fence from the meadow,
ran among the bushes, and began TO dodg e
and hutter about where they mad been in
the habit Of finding the buck wheat. When
they had searched long enough to learn that
no grain had been put there for them, the
birds piped in low tones. huttered uneasily,
scattered into the vegetable beds, and ap-
peared TO be very much disappointed. Ia a
little while the quails gave up the search,
assembled under the currant bushes, and
went to busting themselves in the SOIL Mr.
Snyder counted fourteen in the q lck, and
then she went down stairs, got a basinful Of
buckwheat, and tiptoed her way into the
garden. When she had got as near to the
quails as she could ge: without soaring
them, Mrs. Snyder flung a handful OF
buck wheat toward the quiet LITTLE flock. It
fell among them, and they all scam Dered
under the fence and went out of sight in
hurry. Then she threw some more Of the
grain on the ground where they had been
and secreted herself behind n row of pea
vines. Presently one OF the birds ventured
to crawl under the fence into the garden
1t soon found the buckwheat, and set to
filing its crop. and at this the other birds
took courage, filed from their hiding places,
and went to picking up the grain as
though each was determined to get its
share.
From her place of concealment Mrs. Say
der flung handful of buck wheat into the
air, so that it fell into the midst Of the flock.
1t scared the birds a little, but they quickly
resumed their feeding. and Mrs. Snyder
began to whistle to them, flinging more
grain into the air as she whistled. That
excited their curiosity just enough to make
them look up for a moment, and Mrs. Sny-
der emptied the basin and stole away, with
out letting the birds see her. She fed the
quails in this way for few days, gradually
got them use to her whistle and voice. aud
let them get sight of her by degrees Inside
of month from the time she first saw the
birds in the garden she had them so we'll
tanned that they fiuttered out of the mead
ow whenever she called them, ate in her
presence. and did not seem 20 fear her at
all. Since then Mrs. SNYDER has taken a
good deal Of comfort with her strange little
flock, and she said the other day that the
confidence the birds have in her pays her
many times over for all the trouble she has
made herself in getting the wild little crea-
lures to be as tame as thew are.