Arizona silver belt., 1895-02-16
THEY WON'T BE SHOT.
American Quail That Are Trou'
 bling Canadian Sportsmen,
The Birds Arc So Swift of Wing That the Hunters Are Unabia to Bsg Them some Objections to the Yan-
 kee Invaders.

Eout OplecNtOne tho Nhn-
 kee Invaders
 Two years ago quail became very scarce in this part of the province of Ontario, says the New York Sun, and some enthusiastic sportsmen imported couple of bevies from the southern states and turned them loose. This year they are reaping their reward. though 1t is not the kind they expected, That live quail are plentiful everyone agrees, but up to date very few dead birds have gladdened the hearts of the hunters. Whether the fcathered col onists have acquired new habits since coming under the British flag or have simply brought with them the spirit of independence peculiar to the republic no one knows, but they are certainly well able to take care of themselves, They arc wild and wary and unlike the native Canadian quail are easily flushed. When flushed they fly straight for the thick woods, where it is difficult to get at them. They think nothing of flying half mile to reach thicket, and often instead of alighting on the ground they perch in the trees where flo deHs can find them. The other day the sportsman who had most to do with bringing in the foreigners tramped about from sunrise till sunset, and, on being asked the customary question, What luck?" replied
 "I am sinful man, but not liar. I didn't get feather. I never saw such birds. They invariably flushed before the dogs got within fifty yards of them, and made for the woods, where it seemed impossible to find them"
 After dinner he lit cigar and gave his friends the benefit of his observa- tions
 "I don't believe there are more than q dozen tiocks of these imported quail in the county he said, but they travel around so much they are seen everywhere, and in that way give the impression that the fields arc full of them. l asked every farmer I met if there were any quail about The an swer always was: Plenty of them saw big flock yesterday or the day before, Now, feel sure that many of these farmers saw the same flock, When the little native quails were plentiful they didn't travel about mnch. 4 flock would make its home in cornfield where there was plenty of food and could be found there or in a neighboring field at any time. The dogs could get within a couple of yards of them before they would rise and never knew them to fly further than forty or fifty rods, Besides, they never flew except when disturbed, and when the dogs struck trail they could find the flock by following it. When hunted the birds would fly back and forth in a couple of fields, and it was easy to kill a whole bevy in an after noon, Of course that was why the na- tive quail got killed of
 "But these new fellows seem todo lot of their travelling on the wing. If a feeding ground doesn't suit them, they fly to another. Half a dozen times a day my dogs trailed n flock over farm only to find that the birds had flown. l believe each flock now has a beat of a dozen or more farms over which it travels, and as the birds are seen at different times on all the farms, each farmer thinks he has a flock liy' ing with him inst as in the past, and that is the cause of the opinion that quail are plentiful
 The sportsman who brings home bag Of half a dozen birds this year does well, though it was by no means un- usual for a good shot five or six years suD tp make a bap of twenty or thirty The men who imported the quail are satisfied with the result, even though they haven't killed many yet, for they say that such wary birds can take good care of themselves and will in time become very plentiful But some are dubious of this and say that an olds fashioned hard winter will kill off the strangers. The last couple of winters have been very mild. Besides they have noticed that the birds are rather stupid and easily killed in cold weather in fact, there is very little use hunt ing them on fine days, But though there are some doubters among the sportsmen they all approve of the at tempt to restock the county with ever, strongly disapproves of it. He is a descendant of the United Empire Loyalists, and so truly loyal" that he thinks there should be law passed to keep rebellious American game out of the country. He sees In this attempt to colonize the fields and wood with Yankee quail an effort to foment hn.