Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-10-25
THE HABITS OF BOB WHITE"
A sportsman Writes About His Expert.
eace with. the Quail.

sportsman Writes About Hts Expert.
snco with .he Quail.
In studying the quail one cannot fail
to notice the almost complete change
of habits In this bird which attends the
from one season Of the year
TO another. In the spring and summer
the once shy and bevy keeping Bob
White becomes individualized and tame
we say individualized because, al.
though mated. man and wife are always
one flesh just rs truly among birds as
among human beings No longer in
fiocks, Bob White turns up everywhere
under yonr feet i'm the fields especially
II you haunt the vicinity of his nest and
brooding mate. You will frequently
see him running along by the fence, or
even venturine out into the road. while
albeit but of two notes-rings out again
and again on the sunny air.
So tame and regardless Of her own
safety does the female grow in the nest
ing season that not unfrequently she
will allow herself to be almost trodden
upon before leaving the nest, and !
have known late brooding birds I'm grass
meadows to sit fearlessly upon their
nests until cut TO pieces by the relent-
less knives of the moving machine
l Young quail are perfect little NEGRO
mancers Almost as soon as they are
out OF the shell they seem to have the
power of making themselves invisible
h.. -
go to nobody can tell. The ground may
be as bare as tioor. but somehow they
manage to vanish utterly from the eve.
And this is a trick which they do not en-
tirely forget as they grow older II
takes a sharp eyed sportsman to see a
bevy Of quail before they rise, even II
the dog is pointing right at them and
the grass is as short as IL is on lawn
BY August Bob White begins to take
on n different character altogether from
that he has displayed during the spring
and summer months. He ceases 10
perch himself in conspicuous places and
sing for the delight of himself and his
friends. both feathered and unfeathered.
He no longer makes excursions into ex-
posed and dangerous localities, nor does
he trust to the friendliness OF every
human being who comes his way
Gradually he begins to assemble hi:
family and nearest relatives into little
community conducted on the simplest
comnunistic principles, and animated
by one all pervading desire-to gel
through the terrible open season with
out being brought TO griddle.
That Bob White has developed re
markable powers for realizing this de
sire every sportsman will readily ac
knowledge. No bird can place SO man,
yards between itself and the gun In tw,
or three seconds as the lively littl,
: quail II takes IA remarkably quicl
at a bevy Of quail. even when the bird
rise in the open and the sportsman ha
an unobstructed field If view The al
most irresistible tendency is to fire a
the thick Of EN-. " but besides being un
, sportsmanlik MS method is general,
Ineffective also, for, while It may nov
and then cripple bird. IL oftener let
! the whole bevy get away unscathed, o
! else sends two or three slightly wound
, ed birds into the cover to die crne
and lingering death.
The philosophy Of this result is eas
: enough To explain, for quickly as
covey of quail may seem to the excite,
sportsman 20 tiy together when the
are flushed, little calm observation
D will show that the intervals betweel
the several birds are almost alway
. nearly as great as the spread of charg
of shot at thirty yards. Thus 1t will b
seen that. IL the center Of the charge fall
i'm one of the intervals or spaces, as il
just so much more likely To do as th
space is larger than a quails body, th
, only possible chance il that bird ma
, be crippled by the outer pellets, an
, even this chance is small compared wit
the alternative which has been prev
} ously stated.
! Therefore. my advice TO the tru
sportsman in quail shooting Is to selec
. one bird for each barrel, make a clea
kill or none at all. And IL you are nc
] skillful and quick enough at first to -
lect bird for each barrel, make sur
of your first shot only, for a time. unit
you get so that you can drop your bir
quickly and neatly; then begin to al
. tempt your double ON the principl
!, which has been laid down make
practice OF concentrating my attentio
{ every time on what call the ''lagganl
) that is, the bird nearest me when tn
: gun is raised; or, II the bevy crosses IN
instead of going straight away, It is th
; last bird m the line that fire at. TIL
: rule applies To the use Of both barrel,
Select the laggard each time. Pau
I. Pastnor in Shooting and Fishing
wealthy Woman.