The Quail 67 



roads, where they are sure of gravel and apt to 

 find grain which has fallen from passing cars. It 

 may be well, too, if close attention be paid to 

 fields where the corn has been left in shocks. 

 Every bird in the neighborhood will know all 

 about that corn. 



After a heavy fall of snow followed by high 

 winds, there are sure to be big drifts about the 

 fences. Sometimes flushed birds will make for 

 a drift which covers some favorite spot, and will 

 dart head foremost into the snow. This is a 

 common trick with ptarmigan and ruffed grouse ; 

 but the writer does not recall having seen it men- 

 tioned in connection with quail. That they will 

 so dive into snow is a fact, and a trick which 

 frequently baffles the best of dogs. Therefore, 

 when a bird has been truly marked down at a 

 drift, and the dog fails to locate it, carefully scan 

 the snow, and possibly a small, round hole may 

 be there to explain the seeming mystery. The 

 writer has found those holes, cleanly cut and 

 without a single mark to betray the makers of 

 them, and he has inserted a hand, and either 

 caught or scared the seven senses out of a 

 warm, feathery thing, which gave a sudden con- 

 vulsive start, then burst through the snow roof 

 like a miniature torpedo. 



During snow time it is possible to have sport 

 without the aid of a dog. The writer has en- 



