Norwich bulletin., 1912-12-06
cline in hitting was not as marked, but
 he. toppled to .23S.
BIRDS THRIVE BEST
 IN SEMI WILD STATE,
New System of Game Bird ProPaga- tion Results from Experiments.

(By Herbert K Job. State Ornithoi-
 ogistI of Connecticut)
 In view of the great public interest in saving, and Increasing the birds, particularly those species used for food, the state .ornithologist of Con- necticut, for the state, and under the Storrs Agricultural Experiment sta ton, has devoted much Of his time for the past two years to researches, experiments and observations in the propagation and increase cf the gal linaceous game birds and the wild fowl. Various private estates and game reserves have allied themselves with the Experiment station in a plan of cooperation, and the ornithologist has worked with them and also vis- ited and inspected others where game bird rearing Is practiced. The result is large fund of important informa- ton, with the assurance that the prop agation- of game birds will soon be quite generally carried on success fully, for commercial and other prlr- poses.
 The key to the new method is that it has been ascertained by experi- ment that most and probably all kinds of types of gallinaceous game birds can be raised with hens as foster
 
 with them unrestrained in the open, without being shut in. We have tried this out successfully on small scale and seen or known 1t being done by others, with quail, partridge or ruffed grouse, native Oregon pheasants, sew eral western quails, Hungarian par fridge, wild turkey and other species. The mysterious game bird epi- denies, one of which carried off our young quail at the Experiment sta tion year ago, when they were near ly full grown, are not, generally, im- ported contagious, but troubles, most Fly of the digestive tract, which arise, particularly with young birds, under wrong conditions of restraint, over crowding and fouling of the ground The whole thing reduces itself down to the details of simple system of technique which is perfectly practi- cable. Heretofore 1t has been consid- cred necessary to keep the young birds shut up in order to be able to hold them. Now that experience shows that they can be controlled and cap tured under system of free range, the whole matter is vastly simpliied, and the problem seems in a good way | for full practical solution. Some per- sons, who seem to possess certain
 tact" in handling birds, are able to | raise game birds, including quail, in considerable numbers, and have re- gently done so. Certain details, of course, await further investigation. Yet, pending the outcome of our bac- teriological and other scientific re- | searches, we are learning how to avoid starting these diseases
 It has been encouraging and anus ! ing to watch broods of young quail fully grown, as late as November, 0bediently following their bantam fos- | grass in the open pasture. When wanted they can all be enticed by food into a pen. If the plan is to | stock that particularly locality, the hen is taken away when the young are about two months old, and the lit- 1 -le covey remains in the same gen. eral locality, thoroughly attached to it, and hereafter they take care of | themselves. This is the simplest and safest method, as the birds do not nave to be caught or handled. A lit- He grain will hold them to their feed ing places and help them through the winter. What breeding stock is re- quired each year can be enticed into pens. The young, under this regime, are in a sort of half wild state. They can be kept gentle, or soon made thor oughly wild by driving them once or twiceA We have done these things with quail, and on one farm this sea- | son brood of young ruffed grouse were. reared in this way. The hen | matched seven chicks from nine eggs
 and reared six of the young partridges to maturity. She was finally re- moved, but in early November her \ covey was still holding together in the brush at the edge of the meadow | If cats and other predatory animals
 are allowed to range unchecked. of course, they will catch more or less
 of the young. But on good game
 farms, with careful supervision, they
 wiT minimize the loss. Remember
 that young broods in the wild state
 are constantly menaced by vermin
 yet good proportion escape. IT
 places where vernin cannot be con. .trolled, another method which we have
 worked out might be used A large
 fenced field is used, without covering
 The hens wander about with tn,
 broods, which begin to fly over tn,
 fence when they are about a montI
 old, but invariably wish to return tt
 the hen. The keeper must open tn,
 gate for them at first, and in a shor
 time they learn to fly back.
 Another important matter solved
 has been that under either of thes,
 free range systems the young gam,
 birds make most of their own Twin,
 by foraging, which largely dispose
 of the problem of artificial food al
 a cause of disease. In short. sim
 plicity Is now the rule. Instead O
 the former fussinR and messing, W,
 cut out most of this and let nature
 slightly assisted and directed, asser her sway.