YF 
QUAIL SHOOTING. 181 
them for two or three years. They come to us every 
winter, stay till spring; then, when the snow is gone, 
and the weather is mild, they leave us, but always return. 
In summer they breed and live in the orchard. We 
frequently see the little ones running around with their 
parents. But we don’t disturb them; they seem to 
know us, and have so much confidence in us that we 
couldn’t have the heart to injure them. It would cause 
much sorrow to the children and myself were these birds 
destroyed or driven away.” 
At such times I wish I hadn’t asked the question : 
and bidding the kind-hearted lady good day, call my 
dog, and in deep thought wander aimlessly away. 
In September the birds flock, and are ready about the 
middle of October to make fine sport. Their call is a 
familiar one, and I know of nothing similar to it, unless 
it be to call as if for some truant child, exclaiming plain- 
tively, ‘* Bob White ! Bob White!” This is the call 
used by them early in the spring and through the summer. 
The male does this, while idly sitting on a fence post, or 
the lower limb of some scraggy tree, his partner at this 
time being fully occupied on her nest, always within 
hearing, and usually in sight of him. 
Later in the season their call changes, and I have 
never heard at this time of the year any utterances 
from their throats that could be construed or twisted 
into “Bob White.” Their call at this time being 
‘““Wah-ee-he!” ** Wah-ee-he !” 
When frightened at either man or dog, they utter a 
sharp, chittering sound, preparatory to  flight,—not 
always, but at times. Look out for them then, for they 
will suddenly spring up, with a whirr and roar, that 
will rattle any one not possessing the steadiest nerves. 
