QUAIL SHOOTING 357 
MEARNS’ QUAIL. 
With Mearns’ quail the case is quite different. This 
bird, while not at all shy, possesses markedly swift 
flight, and lies exceedingly close. 
Dr. L. C. Frick, who has had much experience in 
shooting them in New Mexico, considers them a better 
game bird than bobwhite. In shooting them he uses 
pointer dogs, which have proved very efficient. Dr. 
Frick believes that if this bird could be introduced 
into the Mississippi Valley and the country east of it, 
it would at once become enormously popular as a game 
bird. He mentions as a great point in favor of this 
species, that when the birds rise the sexes can always 
be distinguished, and that therefore cocks may be se- 
lected for killing and the hens preserved. He believes 
that the males greatly exceed the females in number, 
and that therefore it is practicable to do a good deal 
of shooting without lessening the productive power 
of the birds in a particular district. The eggs are given 
by Captain Bendire as eight or ten in number, but, on 
the other hand, Mr. Nelson, who has been much in 
the range of these birds, says: 
“T have never seen the Massena partridge in coveys 
larger than would be attributed to a pair of adults with 
a small brood of young. Frequently a pair raise but 
three or four, and I do not remember having ever seen 
more than six or seven of these birds in a covey.” 
Mearns’ quail is odd in appearance and odd in habits, 
but one of its chief peculiarities seems to be that in 
