The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-04
NATURE IS KIND TO
 THE PARTRIDGE.
Writer Says the Feathers Have Been Changed to Foil the Enemy
 Is Smart Bird.

New York Sun.
 Any man who has shot quail steadily will have noted the birds tricks and manners in hiding. It is the quail s m stinct to trust first and last to It's pro- tective coloration.
 Bevies which have not been much shot at will take wing more readily than oth- CTS. because their members have not learn ed that they are least safe when in the air. In wel-hunted fields quail will lie on- til the dogs nose or the man loo' IS within a yard Of them.
 There is no doubt that however thick the cover and skilfully chosen the mdiig place. the dog often sees them before they enough for the man seldom does. lt IS easy enough for the man to tell when the dog does see as well as scent his quarry. The animafs eyes show it plainly.
 Then, if he chooses. the man may stand motionleSs and search the ground anu cover again and again. but the chances are much against his distinguishing any bird forms This IS the more slnguiar. as he knows exactly the slze' shape anu color of the quail and ought to be anle to nick 1t out Probably the human eye takes in too much territory at once ana has an indisposition to focus ltseil uPo" small space. ,-,
 Indians are by inheritance and constant practice tho best tnailers Tn tne MoI,o ,,l1. They will see d dcers track. rthe siight impression of the wolfS paws, where white man can see only uhthdrhen ground but an Indian cannot see a hiu- ing quail any Dctter Illhil duOthN' hu
 This has been tried often. Indeed. ln- dian youths on the Western reSerNationS pursue quail viciously with oows aIio ar rows and kill many but they shoot them when perched an high trees. lhcy uo Ho' make ground shots often.
 The best hand at this kind of sport 'ne country has ever known was the ia.s Maurice Thompson, who was mucn ol toxophilite and sang ana "rotc tn nraise of the bow. He used the oid-fash- toned weapon for two reasons: There was T good deal of the poet in him. ana ne was a born poacher. ,,,
 The latter was the stronger reason in1 how makes no noise. and the farmer m his field d uuarter-mile away dld not know that city dweller was murderlnS his birds within call .,
 Nothing so delighted thompson as !ie sight of a weather-b bea ten sign, showing dimlv; No Shootin' on This Premls. That was the ''premis'' he wanted to shoot on The farmer could set even even with him only by finding his bicycle hid den somewhere near the Fp@u anu LII 'e"N ing out its Spokes
 h, hunting oual with the bow Thomp- son displayed great patience and kno| edge of the habits of the oirds' TIC knew where they were 10 ne lo,ino ,,i1 and moved slowly and gently often ne wou,o hear them running and cheeping before he saw them. -
 He would drive them thus for hun dred or two yards. keeping near them | When one of them crossed an open space or stopped in an open space to look Tor the remainder of the hcvN. hc let driNc
 Nearly all of his quail were Killed while running If they flushed he marked them down and followed them as before. Or fen he would kill half d dozen from one hevy before they became so Scat.ertu that he could not find them He did not attempt to discover them once they had taken to hiding separately because he knew that he could not to II.
 Through thousands of years ot effort to protect itself from it's many foes the quail has deyel9pcdh Son% p"rN wis it% S% any brown objects of woods or fields eartb-clods, cornstalks, fodder, dead or half dead grasses. fallen leaves under brush, twigs, old logs ana so toctn.
 The males have never lost the betray- ipg strine of white over the eye and 1t seems singular that this traitor stripe remains. As the preservation or t'mal '5 is more important than mat or males inc eve-stripc of the females Is brown.
 The. breast feathers Of the qual are of no assistance at all. being distinctive. Tn hiding the bird covers every one or these feathers. The belly ana breast are nressed to the ground, the short tail is depressed. concealing the light under feathers. the head is drawn down upon inc shoulders the wings are damned tightly against the body.
 Only the tcll-tale white stripe remains and in order to conceal that as much az possible the quail will squat with It's back to it's pursuer. It prefers slight de pression. and if it~can find one in time | if suuats with its back flush with the surface of the ground. It Is then abso- | lutely indistinguishable save for the | stripe. ', quail in form must look solely for the | stripe. If he Axes its appearance in his | mind and lets his eye search solely for 1t | he may find his bird. though the chances l are largely against him. But for the | ability of the quail to conceal. Its breast and belly feathers they would have turn ed brown long ago.
 The quail understands its surroundings and chances of escape well as the man does. Sometimes it is impossible to dis lodge it from favoritc bit ot cover.
 This Is generally a thicket, so dense | that accurate shooting is not to he | thought of So placed, the quail will flush dozen times just in front of the dog. going not more than dozen wards tp right nr let and dropping suddenly, immcdist 'l, running for twonty or thirty | wards \ rupuer has often followed one nusil for half < day. expended lot of | stells and uo'or got feathor.
 On Suov the bird realizes that its hue
 lo no protection at all and runs fast