COUNTRY LIFE
AN experiment in naturalisation, of which something was said earlier in. the year, is promising well; and it is hoped that the success is due nor only to the influence of the best breeding season within memory. Two imported game birds have produced families on an English estate under the direction of Imperial Chemicals. They are an American quail and an Indian partridge. A few pair of quail from Africa usually come to the West of England and to Wales and breed. North Devon and West Pembrokeshire are favoured haunts m my own experience. They are, of course, migrants, and considering how common the bird is in France, it is surprising that the yearly incursion is no bigger. Whether it may be possible to encourage regular immigration or establish residents here is another question. The partridge, which somewhat resembles the French partridge, but is a rather heavier bird, should be as easy to naturalise as, say, the Guinea fowl which the founders of the Zoo first introduced. The prime difficulty at the moment is to find food. Perhaps these birds are better worth feeding than the army of superfluous dogs and cats. A general attack on sparrows and rats would save the food a thousand times over.
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