The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-19
GAME BIRDS FOR CONNECTICUT
 TO PROPAGATE
CThird Article in Connecticut Sports
 mans Series.)

CThird Article in Connecticut Sports
 mans Serfes)
 By Herbert K. Job State Ornithologist
 Our important native gallinaceous game-birds in Connecticut are the quail or bob-white and the partridge or ruffed grouse. Tt is conceded that the species produced by Nature for locality are the best. Decisive pro gress hes been made of late, as has been shown in previous articles. with the artificial propagation of quail Quail, when properly handled, will nearly always mate in confinement, and usually average from 30 to 50 eggs per pair. Hence they are capable of being multiplied very rapidly.
 This, unfortunately, is not true of the ruffed grouse. Though it is very dociIe in captivity, it's has never yet proved possible to make the hen lay more than one set of eggs each sea- son. Various persons, this past season and previously have raised them in small numbers. The problem is hence though it is not very likely that the species can, for some time to come, be propagated on a commercial scale
 The quail then, is the native species which should be emphasized in Con ,necticut for artificial increase. At the same time, for immediate and abun-a well to propagate some other species which can at once be reared in large numbers. Is there such? ! Clearly the Hungarian partridge will not fill inc hill though personalIv r
 
 wish that it could. The case is obvi-- ous from various breeding experiments this country. At the outset, it Is hard to mate them up, and the French sys- tenn, the only one thus far fairly suc- cessful, is expensive and difficult. Even when thus mated, necessary handling Or something else seems to break up'' from laying about half of the pairs, and the rest do not lay very freely. The chicks once hatch ed, are easily raised, but the species seems rather stupid, the coV8s ire quenting open helos and falling easy prey to verInin or other enemies.
 The prairie chicken pinnated grouse was abundant in parts of Con neetieut in Colonial days, and is thus about as hard to raise in numbers as would the ruffed grouse, and, being considerably a bird of the open, would probably be easily shot off
 Some of the various western quails, such as the mountain, California, Gambel's, and scaled quails, are quite easy to breed and raise we have found in our experiments this past season Unfortunately they are all great runners, and many sportsmen dislike them because they run before the dog. However. they are liked in the West, where, by using other meth ods' they furnish some quite good sport, and I am not so sure that it would be a bad plan to have some game-birds here which are par ticularly well able to take care of thennselves-
 
 extensive propagation, along with the quail. Is the Oregon pheasant or China pheasant, the ring-necked, or t'torq qua- tus'' strain, introduced from China in- to Oregon in the eighties, which has now become thoroughly natura1ized American species in number of States. It is similar in general ap- pearance to the English ring-necked species but is somewhat different in habit The English ring-neck ire quents the open country, and is now much crossed with another strain which is rather a marsh frequenter. The Oregon bird, on the other hand, is considerably woodland dwe1ler. and should do finely in the brush and woodlands of our own State. They wiD not harm our native game birds, as they are of cowardly disposition, very wild and in confinement little quails have been known to chase them Hardy almost beyond belief, they fair ly reyel in temperature 40. below zero and Tn deep SHOWS. They are most prolific layers in confinement. and the young are easily raised. In New York themselves raised 1000 of them from eggs distributed from the game farm. They do little or no harm to crops, but feed mostly injurious insects. I knew of 5 acre field of cabbage, to which 200 young pheaSant5 of this sort had daily access. All they did vas to clear it of cabbage worms, to he delight of the owner. Any farmer vithout expense or trouble can hatch Ut eggs under hen, and rear them just letting them run with very, tile feeding. They have increased A~ ough in 24 states to allow of open