The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-19

yery. good imitation it is, Whom the threaten.
Ing loot draws near each OF the chicks makes
OF a mans thumb and becomes a part OF the
ground itself. II the mother does not return
s She rises stas T yH%Sld IA q y yois f fTom The 'S alien a0S Sn5
falls within ak feet. Again she, rises and
progress ai'' The other hangs limp and IN a apps.
rently broken at her side. She will keep this
up until her pursuer has been lured to q dis
lance Of n hundred yards. Then she will rise
the underbrush; II the observer cares 70 rur-
and beautiful things Of nature, he will return
to the point where the mother first became
visible and place himself in hiding, In a little
while, i've minutes or SO. he will detect a
rustltng In the grass and hear her soft call. II
Is rapid and clear and has solicitude In Il. u
asks; Did he catch any of your Are YOU all
here?" The little ones an, weI In an almost
y OH. the mother in the lead and the young
stefs following soberiy In a bunch. In, the
peril is passed they, are not permitted to stray.
In htteen minutes. however, all is ~ it was.
caying little town In the centre of the parish.
tells other things which evidence the reason
lug power OF the quail. Lying once at the
hill, he heard n sound of raindrops falling soft
y and steadily. The sky was a ~spotless blue.
rSHHied S So2Rs er y ne saw she i m %ade t plsd sound s%Ti
by beating the dry ground with the tins of her
wings. .Nyche saws that she was %'fooling tho
worms" In other words, she was inducing
those earth dwellers to believe that a shower
was falling aud seduclng them into coming to
He says that she got the worms. several OF
mem, ana then moved away to repeat her per
worked. He says further:
out .quailln,, the other day / came to the
back q a field; Inside there was grass ten
inches high. and outside of the ruil fence n pine
thtcket OF saplings twenty feet high grew close
up; NY dog Shot went on a dead point; He
barrels ond walked ahead of him to flush the
birds: Nothing got up; | asked him what
was t he mater with him and told him to go
feet further. This time his nose was within
two inches of the ground his tail stuck out like
foot of his nose. and ! kicked in the grass easy
grabbed Shot by the ear and walked on him a
little bit. but his, yelpin' didn't. find anY birds
so along msH the >" fence nT When Msi / Ren may a s9 ya5ds b or
hind,,a sort Of nuttering sound. | turned.
and blessed If a bevy of birds twenty strong
saplinRs and pitching In the grass where Shot
had made his two points. Those birds had
trees and hidden among the thick green pine
needles, They came out when they thought
t them T ,sss t SAFE see ! + T ,S9t 6ags and shot one Of
the ordinary, but they were Just plain Guails."
Quails differ in intelligence Just as human
they will be Killed out early in the season.
otnere; though their range is known. will go
NllVuEu III Ola mOuIIB WlIUOuI losing a hAlf
dozen members, These are birds which
strike immediately for the timber when
mad n1spe for a atty or Sa a Hundred fmG s5es Ssr shsy tb rnn Ike Ike
again. Naturally tho pointer or setter does
not live which can lind them for the second
time. IT is the experience of all gunners in
this region that a quail. once it has found the
shelter, OF the woods. will 80 arrange matters
large or small. will be between it and the man
with the gun; The old hand. who is never in
a hurry. vii! foil this by s%teppinG a yard to one
ElUn when the hlr1 riSnG SnI1p htrIa la,,. N
habit of rising. coming back straight for the
gunner and passing, him not more than six
%1ihhcGlt. Others will not lie to the dog at all.
but trust to their legs. As a quail will run a
man, who expects to Hush them by waikinnSS
slowly in -front OF his. pointing dog Will get
home With an empty bag. Others are noted
not the corkscrew movement of the jncksnipe.
OF course, but they fly with a wide. varying
to down; All of them have an exceptionally
loud whtr when flushing, and this so works
ind it a good thing to go into the field with
their ears stuffed with cotton. There is no
doubt that when the quail Is mucn alarmed 1t
the way like Il bullet without any sound AZ all,
Myche vii demGnstrate this. he says. to any
often used in pine thickets. These are so
thick that the bird is compelled. to rise twenty
flight Is made so cleanly and silently that it
looks like the phantom Of a quail. There
NAV be men VINO have killed under these
circumstances. but.they are not in evidence.
The shooting hereabouts Is remarkably diff
ticult as a general thing. The fields are small.
seldom containing more than thirty acres.
Each OF them is surrounded by woods and
thickets OF, more or less density. The birds
when found In the field are compelled to make
only a short flight to the trees and UNDER
growth. An expert. of course, will get a bird
with each barrel when the bevy rises. After
that they are scatte red In the forest, and the
shooting becomes wholly snap shooting. The
gun is thrown to the shoulder. and almost nj
the same instant the trigger Is pressed, The
man Sets not more than u glimpse Of his quarry
as 1t darts among the trunks. For this rea.
son choke-bore. guns are not popular here.
They were n lad some wears ago. but all OF the
better shots are returning to the old fash |
Toned cyllnder-bores. which scatter widely
and do not tear q bird killed at short range.
Fer this reason. also. ~the.bags are never espe-
cially large from n Southern viewpoint, though
the birds are here in thousandA fairly good
shot. With a decent dog, ought to be able to
leave Benton at , o'clock In the afternoon and
at q with twenty birds in the POCKET ~
his shooting coat. This would moan that he
found not fewer than n half dozen bevies. It
mean also that he expended between
nifty and sixty shells. A man good enough TO
take all fair shots and bag one bird for every
Two shells the season through in this section
Is so good that he has not yet been found
Men able to bag eight birds out OF ten In tho
Open are glad TO get one in three in the brush,
and 10 is mostly brush shooting. The highest
lndividual score OF the season is to be credited
10 &. o. Gayle, who. in a long days shooting
over two dogs. bagged ffty-three quails. He
1red 1877 shells.