The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-29
QUAIL IN THE SOUTHWEST.
Birds So Plenty Hunters Sometimes
Kill One Hundred a Day.
s. Canfeld. in chicago Times-HeraId.

H. S. Garfield, in Chicago TimeS-Herald.
One hundred and twenty-five birds in a
day to the single gun and dog is, so far as
my knowledge extends, the quail record for
southwestern Texas, a land that is emphati-
cally the home of the quail 1t was made
near MarcelinaS, a little station on the San
Antonio & Arkansas Pass Railway, in Karnes
county These were all fairly killed birds
and the holder of the score, Jesse Bell, was
accompanied by two other men, who were
with him all through an autumn day. In the
Marcelinas country it often happens that
two bevies will be flushed while the hunter
is endeavoring to find a third previously
scattered. Scores of eighty-five and ninety
birds in a day are not by any means I'M
common. The man who is unable to count
sixty in bag at set of sun holds himself to
be unlucky.
1 know of no land wherein the shooter is
more severely tested The birds invariably
are strong and fast. They are found usu-
ally in cactus or post oak Straight flying
over an open field. which is the rule in
Illinois, is of rare occurrence. The birds do
not rise and sail straight away as is their
custom in northern ATTITUDES. They all have
curve to them, and frequently they viii
soar into the air and come straight back
over the shooters head. Owing to prlckly
pear plants, sometimes twenty feet in
height, or to limbs of the pose oaks, much
of the shooting is snap shooting. snap
shooting, no matter what the skill of the
man behind the gun, is proverbially uncer-
tain.
The Southwest contains three distinct va
rieties of quail. They are the ordinary
Mexican quail" which is never found east
Of the Nueces river, and the mountain
quail which, as it's name implies, inhabits
the bold hills near the heads OF is sreer
than the Bob White is of a slaty blue
color, and the male has crimson topknot
IT is an excellent table bird, but Will not
lie to the dog Since it is extraordinarily
swift of foot and is always on the go, bag
ging ii involves a tremendous amount of
work 1t is usually hunted from the back
of a trained pony. AS its habitat is cactus
and interlacing chaparral, through which a
rabbit with difficulty finds its way retriev-
ing is a matter of difficulty. Of course, the
thin-skinned pointer is of no value in such
a country. Every growing thing in the
home of the Mexican quail bears thorn.
The dogs hide would be peeled from him
in strips A setter must be used in this
work and the coarser its hair the better.
The mountain quail is the most beauti-
the markings of the Bob White" but from
the white spot on it's throat over it's plump
breast and under the tail 1t is of the CLOS
siest and richest black. The crows feath-
ers seem duh in comparison. 1t lies well
to the dog but the country in which ii lives
is Of the toughest and shooting involves
much hard work. 1t is by no means plenti-
full even where least disturbed. have
killed twenty a day in the Santa Rosa
mountains of northeastern Mexico. and
have not met anyone who has done better
This quail is but little known to shooters.
although naturalists are we'll acquainted
with it. They call 1t the Massena quall It's
rarity is shown by the fact that the Field
Columbian Museum. of Chicago, extensive
as is it's collection, does not contain spec
linen of IL.
Naturaiists II may be said, are extremely
lax i'm their classifcations of birds and
water fowl. There are many more varieties
than are mentioned in the books. have
had men Of science for instance. to show
me specimens Of the well-known ''dusky
duck" and the equally weil-known black
mallard," which they had entered In the
catalogue under the same heading. To the
naturalists they were all 'dusky ducks"
The species are distinct. They do not as
sociate and do not mate. As a further in
stance Illinois contains two kinds OF brown
quail. both classed as ortyx Virginianus.
One is a field bird, the other is a woodland
bird They never invade each others ter
ritory. The woodland bird is at least one