The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-10-23
HUNTER RUNS into
FESTIVAL OF QUAIL
With Little Negroes as Retain
ers, Shooting Game is Like
Picking Cotton.

through our plantation Christmas
timer which is no mean kind OF an
Entertainment, when a negro bearing
1 note for me shuffed 10 the door.
took the letter and read its brief
contents A friend In tho city was
having . house party OF doson
uestA. As yet they had enjoyed no
anne. Would II be possible Tor me
secure and dispatch Immediately
bout twenty-five or thirty QuaiiE
"he writer assured me that i knew
where the birds were. and all that;
nd that he would not trouble mo but
hat he knew how much j should en-
10y getting the bag from him. But
Inless they could be put on tho mail
'hristmas night they would arrive
90 late for the aforesaid purpose.
Gentle reader. have you ever had q
'riend who knew nothing OF hunting
Isk you to get game for himY He
kinks no Is comforting a privilege on
on; for no honestly believes that
m big plantation shooting quail
just lii<o picking cotton. and bag
ing a wild turkey IL Just like going
ut into the garden and cutting on
I cabbage--Just like that!
But this friend Of mine. however
uniformed on some matters, 10 a
IAN whom like 10 please; therefore
uring the remainder of the dinner I
as honestly planning how I might
,commodate his wtshes- To do this
,ould. In the first place, require
uick work. for the sun was hardly
two hours hish. Moreover. to An
,ther friend had lent my only bird
log for . Christmas Day hunt I'm
css man has two or three covies
an - a H..
he AID clampod down over them. how
= he going to produce them sudden
y at a friends mare wish! But In
uniting ~ In most things II pays to
try.
Leaving the rest OF the company
discussing juieps and the like, j
emerged from the house just before
the sun had begun to burn the tall
pines to the westward of the planta-
ion. Seeing several little negro boys
who had already had a share OF din
1er, / impressed them into my serv-
ce. We crossed the cottonfields.
leading toward a long stretch OF
Droomsedge that bordered the creek.
n this dense yellow grass there are
llways quail. but to find them with
rut dog would De difficult: yet
here were my .dusky henchmen to
help. Pausing once to look tho stu
alton over, / heard, coming from a far
rdge of the field. where an extraordi-
'arily high tide had begun to back
he water into the grass, the carry
ng on of two covies Of quail that
lad run into each other. The voluble
sossip that they were engaging in was
'weet music to my ears. And there
was little lost motion in my getting
20 where the birds were.
BIRDS IN GREAT NUMBER
Telling my small trailers to stand
close behind me so as to give me q
chance to shoot, began walking up
the birds They must have been hav
ing for themselves some kind Of a
Christmas festival or dinner-party.
for they were as 10th to rise as some
friends had just left had been I'M
willing to leave the table.
I never saw birds rise so scatter
ingly; nor Ii I live until the League
OF Nations or the millennium or
something like that comes off do /
expect to see more quail in one place.
said that two covies had come to-
gether. That was all wrong. The
thing I am telling is a true thing
and when 1 say that, standing almost
III oho pioSc, WIN DlTuS TiSllR H.
most continuously, 1 was enabled to
kill eleven birds ION the RISE" you
will understand what kind Of a camp
meeting / had invaded. Nor did the
birds. even after much shooting. fly
wildly. They must have been too
deeply engrossed with social engage
ments to consider mo. From the
grassy edges where had flushed
them they swung to the left. setting
about in the tall broomgrass on a
little hillock that rose softly from
the dead level Of tho old field.
The little negroes retrieved all the
shot birds. and we now began to walk
up the scattered ones. The sun was
down behind tho pines now; and the
brightly lighted sky gave most excel
lent visibility. To walk up these fine
birds. and to have them go whirring
Off toward the fading sunset afforded
me as fine an opportunity for quail
shooting as I have ever enjoyed. The
crippled birds were gathered in for
me by the small boys, who performed
very creditably. They also carried
the game, so that all I had to do was
to flush the birds and shoot.
They were not followed for the
third rise, both because they were by