The herald., 1898-10-16

they derive from this wayward little scrap
OF energy.
On most Of the grounds where the valley
quail Is found the rocks slopes and chap
paral almost blaZon the warning:
NO LAZY FOLKS NEED APPLY.
This year will see am important addition
to 1t that those who remember the shoot
ing Of 1877 and 1883, the last dry years, can
we'll read on the bare slopes:
NO BUFFERS NEED APPLY.
The extreme drouth OF last year produced
two results that will make quail shooting
the most lively occupation In which one Is
likely to engage before the next boom
strikes the land. One is that nearly all the
birds are last years birds, or more SO; and
the ether is that there IS a great scarcity
Of grass. weeds and ground-cover gener-
ally, with a very sickly growth Of brush
A weary air also sleeps upon the wild
luoerne, the wild buckwhest, the black
sage, as we'll as the white sage, while the
sumac has not put forth one-fourth of It's
usual growth, and even the dodder's fra
ternal embrace of the chem.sal is very
weak Consequently there j. little cover IN
which the birds can hide, even when they
want to. And he who has had much to do
with this gay rover Of the hills remembers
possibly that sometimes the smooth ram
bier does not care to hide.
Was there ever bird that SO loved his
legs? None unless 1t is the wild turkey
But even the turkey will fly and the east
ern turkey can fan the air almost as lightly
as quail and make longer flight. The
Arizona turkey prefers to run, but the
eastern bird lives to show you that he can
fly, and you are quite apt to believe him If
you ever see him try. The valley quail has
varying moods, but through them all he
rarely forgets to show off his legs. One
minute he may rise wild and whzz away
over some hilltop, but when he aights 1t
may be only to run, and rapid must be your
pace to force him into flight. The next
time he may reverse all this and wind up
by getting into some cover where he will
lie so closely that you can find him only
with dog. But whatever he does he Will
run more this year than In most years, and
to force him into flight near enough for
sure shot no leaden heels will do
This birds instinct taught him last
spring that there would not be food
enough for his numerous family II he
should raise one. The bee is equally
smart, and so are the ground squirrel the
gopher the cottontail and the hare. With
these 1t il a plain case of refusal to breed,
for the quails do not even pair off in the
spring, but remain in the f1ocks in which
they united In the preceding fall. There
are numerous insects and worms whose
eggs do not hatch in such years, but here
Is a remarkable case of animal wisdom. 1t
was more conspicuous in 1889, when In some
places 1t looked for a while as II there
would be grass enough. Many quails
paired off, and then the prospects changed
so that they went all summer in those
pairs, but without making any nests. In
few places the birds paired this year. and
there are few young birds, but they are
a mere tifie compared with what they
should be. During some ten days spent In
the Santa Monica mountains last summer
I saw several dozen fiocks of old quails.
many of them containing several dozen
and some as high as two or three hundred.
But in nine flocks out of ten there was no