Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-07-18
THE RUSES OF THE QUAIL
BIRDS WONDERFUL ART OF HID.
ING FROM ITS FOES.

Any man who has shot quail steadily
manners in hiding. 1t is the quaiPs
instinct to trust first and last to its
protective coloration.
Bevies which have not been much
shot at will take wing more readily
than others, because their members
have not learned that they are least
safe when In the air. In well-hunted
fields quail will lie until the dogs nose
or the mans foot is within yard of
them.
There Is no doubt that however thick
the cover and skilfully chosen the
hiding place the dog often sees them
before they flush, but the man seldom
does. 1t is easy enough for the man to
tell when the dog does see as well as
scent his quarry. The animals eyes
show it plainly.
Then, If he chooses, the man may
stand motionless and search the ground
and cover again and again, but the
| chances are much against his distln-
| gushing any bird forms. This is the
more singular, as he knows exactly
the size, shape and color of the quail
and ought to be able to pick it out.
Probably the human eye takes in too
much territory at once and has an in
| disposition to focus itself upon a small
space.
Indians are by inheritance and con-
slant practice the best trailers in the
world. They will see a deer's track,
or the slight impression of the VOLTS
| paws, where a white man can see only
unmarked ground, but an Indian can
not see a hiding quail any better than
another human.
This has been tried often. Indeed,
Indian youths on the Western reserva-
tions pursue quail viciously with bows
and arrows and kill many, but they
shoot them when perched in high trees.
They do not make ground shots often.
The best hand at this kind of sport
tho country has ever known was the
late Maurice Thompson, who was
much of toXophilite and sang and
wrote the praises Of the bow. He
used the old-fashioned weapon for two
reasons: There was a good deal of
the poet in him. and he was born
poacher.
The latter was the stronger reason
| The bow makes no noise, and the
farmer in his field a quarter mile
away did not know that city dweller
was numbering his birds within call
| Nothing so delighted Thompson as
the sight of a weather beaten sign,
| showing dimly: mo Shotin on This
Premis." That was the "premis" he
wanted to shoot ON. The farmer could
! get even with him only by finding his
bicycle hidden somewhere near the
road and breaking out it's spokes.
In hunting quail with the bow
Thompson displayed great patience
and knowledge of the habits of the
birds. He knew where they We're to
be found and moved slowly and gently.
! Often he would hear them running
and cheeping before he saw them.
He would drive them thus for 100
or 200 yards, keeping near them, eau
tious not to frighten them into fight.
When one of them crossed an open
space or stopped In an open space to
look for the remainder of the bevy he
let drive.
Nearly all of his quail We're killed
while running. If they flushed he
marked them down and followed them
as before. Often he would kill half
dozen from one bevy before they be-
came so scattered that he could not
find them. He did not attempt to dis
cover them once they had taken to
hiding separately, because he knew
that he could not do it.
Through thousands of years of effort
to protect itself from it's many foes
the quail has developed a back, wing
and neck covering which blends per-
fectly with any brown objects of woods
or fields-earth clods, cornstalks, fod-
der, dead or half dead grasses, fallen
leaves, underbrush, twigs, old logs and
so forth.
The males have never lost the be-
traying stripe of white over the eye,
and 1t seems singular that this traitor
stripe remains. As the preservation of
females is more important than that
VI ehc W S-otl ipS VI tut ltlliditS
| Is brown.
The breast feathers of the quail are
Of no assistance at all, being distinc-
| tive. In hiding the bird covers every
one of these feathers. The belly and
| breast are pressed to the ground, the
short tail is depressed, concealing the
light underfeathers, the head is drawn
| down upon the shoulders, the wings
are jammed tightly against the body.
Only the telltale white stripe remains
and in order to conceal that as much
as possible the quail will squat with
its back to it's pursuer. 1t prefers a
slight depression. and if 1t can find one
in time it squats with its back flush
with the surface of the ground. 1t is
! then absolutely indistinguishable save
for the stripe.
| A man who wishes to discover a
cock quail in form must look solely for