QUAIL, BOBWHITE, PARTRIDGE 53 
sections of the country—as in parts of Oklahoma—far- 
mers refuse to permit gunners to venture on their prem- 
ises in pursuit of bobwhite. 
The quail does not migrate and therefore is always 
exposed to the dangers of winter, and where they have 
once been exterminated efforts to replace them by other 
quail imported from the south have seldom been success- 
ful. The most hopeful indication for the protection of 
the species is in the growing comprehension of its eco- 
nomic value. Quail are extremely prolific, and under 
ordinary conditions might survive the attacks of all 
natural enemies, but when the climate sweeps off all the 
birds in a particular region the progress of re-establish- 
ment is slow. 
In old times in the south the practice of netting quail 
was very generally indulged in. Powder and shot were 
costly, while the net could be used over and over again. 
This method of taking them, at first practiced only as a 
means of procuring food, was carried on later for the 
purpose of securing living birds to sell to persons who 
desired to restock their covers with quail. Presumably 
it has been in vogue up to within a short time, 1f not 
now practiced in parts of Oklahoma and in Texas. 
A chief danger to the quail of the south is the non- 
enforcement of the game laws, and the market shooting 
by negroes, many of whom gun persistently almost the 
whole year round and are excellent shots. 
The ordinary bobwhite is the northernmost and best 
known species of this genus. Yet the smaller, darker 
quail of the south and of Florida and the grayer form 
