The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-10-26
SOME GAME BIRDS OF
THE UNITED STATES

said that partridges may be killed and
SOD IN Illinois at any time during the
year. II the sportsmen of Illinois do not
attend to this ma liter they will IN a few
years have poor shooting or none at all.
~ provision in a law permitting certain
BIRDS to be sold always operates as a
notification OF tho law, and all provls-
ions excepting certain birds from the
operation of the law may be said to BIO
fatal. The game law of the District of
Columbia, for example, provides that no
person shall kill or have In his possess
ion any pheasant between the 26th day
of December and the LIST day OF Novem-s
Der, except the English ring-neck or 9th
er pheasant Of foreign origin Matched
and raised in farm poultry Enclosures
Who knows when the bird is dead
whether it was Matched ana raised IN d
poultry Enclosure?
In a dry season the partcidges will
move from certain localities where there
is no water to the vicinity OF streams
or bitches. I was once shooting IN
southern Illinois when much OF the
country had no water and the partridges
had gathered around stream ana
large ditch which contained pools OF va
ter. had excellent dogs and on seEs-
raj occasions, observed two coYeys IN
the air at the same time. The olros
were so abundant that the firing at cue
covey flushed another
The wood-cock also are compeileo 10
leave large areas of country III ufy sed
sons and will move to the nearest g'ouhu
where food is abundant and the son
moist enough for boring. I once, When
duck shooting, came upon a tremendous
number of these birds about the shorc
Of lake where they had come from
many miles Of surrounding country WHICH
was thoroughly dried up.
GAME RESERVES.
There are many clubs in America which
own grounds where these partridges are
propagated and carefully locked after to
furnish sport for the club members IN
the autumn. These clubs usually have
from twenty to q hundred or more mem
bers and they usually own a farm or
tract Of land and rent the shooting priv
Hedges over miles OF ad jacent territory.
New birds are often put out in the
spring Of the year in time to nest and
raise coveys for the fall shooting. The
birds are procured from tho West, most
of them come from the Indian Terrific
ly and Kansas. 1t is customary to put
out several thousand birds and these are
bought for about three or four dollars
per dozen. The Robbins Island Club on
the island in Pecmic Bay usually liber-
2teS lNIe6 1iOuSdIlu al l1lc
clubs in Pennsylvania and ether North
ern States. it seems necessary to pro-
cure new birds each year. The severity
of the northern winters has believe.
as much to do with the diminution Of
the covies as the shooting and II Is pos
sible the birds from, the Indian Territ-
tory are not as hardy as those Matched
further north It will not be long be-
fore it is difficult to get any birds for
re-Etocking the preserves since there are
laws against trapping them in force al
most everywhere. The clubs would do
we'll TO pflohibit the shooting absolutely
III certain fields and preserve some en-
tire coveys of native birds with which to
re-stoch the coveys another year. This
of course could hardly be done at the
Robbins Island Club or at any club
where the area is small but on the lar
ger preserves. certain farms might well
be set aside for breeding purposes.
few unbrolen coveys would winter much
better than the remnants Of focks much
shot at. The partrdges sleep on the
ground in concentric huddles with the
tails all pointing to the center, the birds
touching each other wing to wing to
form tile circle. Pressing closely to-
get!aer they no doubt keep warm
er when the circle contains all the birds
and with the heads facing outwardly,
there is a lookout III every direction
TO give warning Of the approach of
enemies. In addition to the wild animals
which prey upon these birds, many Of
the domestic cats from the farms have
decided liking for them. and have often
found cats far from the house. III most
likely partridge coveys. / used to own
a large and powerful setter which was
Very fond Of meeting cats in the Illinois
thickets and often made short work Of
them.
The foxes are responsible for the loss
of many birds and on one occasion, l
had the satsfa ction of killing one OF
these animals over a point, the fox be-
ing close to covey which took wing
at the report of the gun. I cut the ras-
calls throat with a load of number eight
as he scampered out of some hriars. The
dog I had on that occasion was very
fond OF chasing hares and he gave. me
very appealing look just before the fox
took fight, but to his credit. he held his
point firmly.
Most Of the partridge clubs have rules
regulating the shooting and prohibiting
the killing Of large bags, and some Of
the clubs prohibit the shooting GER
tain days. a rule Of the Wyandanch
Club provides that: no member of the
club shall Kill more than twenty-five
birds (quails or partlidgesl on the club
grounds in a week. Weeks to com
1nence on Monday and end on Saturday
evenings. Twenty-Five birds in a week
may be well enough fer Long Island, but
on a Sout..eln preserve. the limit might
be much larger without diminishing the
game. On the preserves in England and
Scotland and on the Continent of Eu-
rope. tremendous bags are made in a
day but care is taken to see that enough
are spared TO insure an abundance Of
birds for another season.
VARIETY OF SPORT.
Many of the shooting clubs arc SO sit
uated as to provide a variety of sport
Some of the island clubs and clubs
about the shores and lakes have excel
lent Shooting at wild fowl and shore
birds and also keep up preserves for
cartridges and pheasants. flushed
large coFey of partridges ana q number
Of pheasants in a short ralnble from the
Winous Point Club house last autumn
and at the same time saw many mall
lards IN the air. AT Robbins Island, they
tried the eSDerimentg Of uniting ont