The herald., 1897-12-26

N~>~~ON
and the variety of the game" said gen
tleman to me the other day.
He is but one of many whom we dc
not hear, and sooner or later almost
every one of his class becomes a fixture
here They are quite certain to II they
stay for the summer shooting and fish
ing, though the winter is the flrst thins
that attracts them.
There is really no part of the United
States that now offers in winter the at
fractions to the lover of field sports that
Southern California does. Though 1t
has sadly fallen off from what 1t was
ten or fifteen years ago, there is still
enough for one who has the time and
means to hunt and does not take stu
pid pride In making a larger bag than
any one else. Hunting for count is rap
idly going out of fashion and the major
ity of sportsmen are now more proud of
a reasonable amount of game or fish
slsilfully taken than Of any mere num-
bers. This will soon become matter Of
regulation by law everywhere as it is
now in many states for large game. and,
aided by the protection that is every
year increasing. will keep this region for
all time a paradise for the number of
sportsmen now so rapidly increasing, as
out of door sports become every year
more fashionable.
The season is now closed for deer and
doves, but is still open for all other game.
remaining open until spring. During this
time the leading attraction is the quail,
which is still so abundant that a good
shot can kill from forty to sixty a day
and even more at times il he does not
mind work. That beautiful bird, the
mountain quail. larger than the valley
quail and with two long plumes nodding
over its head, is still found in the noun
tains. 1t is never so plenty as the valley
quail and lives often in the toughest
canyons up whose sides it can ply pair
OF the Swiftest legs on earth of the same
length. One must walk rapidly, otter
on a half run, and stop and shoot like
lightning when it springs from the dense
jungle of manZanita or lilac which robes
much Of the higher hills in living green
This quail objects to hiding as most of
the quail family do to escape pursuit,
and trusts mainly to its legs. But after
being chased a little it will often lie so
that in good cover one may get within
q few yards of it before it springs. When
pne cuts down this combination of slate
blue, chestnut, white and black before
Il has cleared the bush from which it
springs one may we'll feel that some-
thing has been done to be proud of. And
etill more Is this the case when the
brush Is SO thick that II requires almost
one barrel to clear the road and the i,
other to hit the game. This quail often
seems the most artless and trusting lit
tie creature alive, lingering in your pres
cnce, though gradually getting away,
with soft and plaintive twittering, and
making apparently one Of the surest
of marks for the tenderfoot. But a Won
derful change takes place the instant
you show any signs of wanting him and
there Is no game that At first allows you
to come 50 near that so puzzles even the
expert with the gun. The way a whole
flock can slip through your fingers with
out flying over hundred yards at 4
time is one Of the most wonderful fea-
lures OF field experience and day spent
with this quail is we'll repaid by the dis
covery of how smart you are not.
The principal winter game is the val
ley quail little smaller than the noun
tain bird and not quite his equal in
trickery but still a very respectable
teacher for one who wants to learn to |
shoot we'll One who has lived in an at
mosphere Of powder smoke at the traps
and has learned to pulverize blue rocks |
and triturate half-starved house pig
cons is quite apt to anticipate picnic |
when he strikes one of the large focks |
Into which the bevies of this quail unite |
In the fall. But if not used to shooting in |
the field he Is quite certain to come to |
cyief thac. hi, ri ND ;r
pert shot on other game he will find a
great lowering of his pride for the first
few days among them.
Breeding from seacoast to 1000 feet
above the sea, at home in the garden or
the widest canyon. loving cactus rocks,
chaparral or timber as we'll as the edge
of the brush along the plains, or the
grassy fats of the river bottom, or the
jungle of Wild rose, grape and clematis,
this quail descends to the valleys in
autumn in quantities quite incredible
Flocks of thousands are now thing of
the past, but punches of hundreds are
still common, and one of them will often
make q whole mornings hunt for one
who understands them. They can be
hunted without a dog, though a dog is
better If kept in good order which is
not very difficult if his master is not
over-anXious to secure everything at
once.
In thoset seasons when the winterrains
have come early and the land is green on
hill and dale, this shooting has no equal
In the world. on the clear, warm days
that follow the rains. The soft sun and
the great snow-clad mountains looking
down from the depths of winter
upon the brightness of spring. have an
effect upon one that must be felt to be
appreciated, while the eastern quail is
to keep from freezing. and
the snow is drifting over him, perhaps
In crust. from which he can never es-
cape, our bird is sprngng from tangle
Of purple and green. where the wild pea
Is trailing over the evergreen sumac.
along the ground beneath the
golden bloom of the lucerne, or lodging
around rocks fcstooned with the bril
liant green and white blossoms of the
chili-coyote. There is no mud to noun-
der through, no briers to tear through
and If they lead you a chase up a steep
hill and fly around backward. so that if
you drop one you will have to go all the
way down hill for it, while the rest of the
plrds are going up when you get back
TO the top of the hill and find the ouail
Gre well on their way across the next
canyon, you will be consoled by a view of
h lovely winter scene and as soft Il gran
ite bowlder to rest on IS You ever found
Most of the difficulties YOU find at Nret
with these quail disappear as you be-