176 GAME-BIRDS AT HOME. 



little use after the birds were scattered. When 

 his dog first came to a point in some dense 

 brush through which a whiz of blue went so 

 swiftly that he had no time to look along the 

 barrel of his gun, but, after a quick shot, 

 dimly saw the blue whirl over, he felt proud. 

 Yet he was sadly astray when he thought 

 he was to get many more shots, even as hard 

 as that. Vainly the dog drew among the 

 heavy manzanita on the hill or in the deep 

 masses of ferns and horse-tails in the gulch. The 

 more Jones expected a rise out of the next 

 bush the more he did not see it. Far ahead 

 he could occasionally see a dark speck scud 

 across some opening ahead of the slowly-crawl- 

 ing dog, but not a wing beat the air near enough 

 to shoot at. 



Jones then quickened his pace, but found it 

 took much faster traveling than before to keep 

 up with the birds. By the time he had scram- 

 bled up hill among the brush fast enough to 

 force a quail into flight, he was so out of breath 

 and in such an awkward position that he could 

 not hit anything even if close enough for cer- 

 tainty. And when he did hit a quail, it was 



