THE QUAJL. 39 



unsewed ; the interior is then stopped with wax near 

 the notch on the side of the leather, and a hole pierced 

 through it with a knitting-needle ; the upper part of 

 the tube must also be stopped with wax, and lastly, 

 the lower part, which is thus become a kind of whistle, 

 is very firmly tied to the unsewn part of the cylinder. 

 "When the call is to be used, the lower end must be 

 held firmly in one hand, and the leather cylinder 

 worked up and down with the other, making the rings 

 approach and separate, which produces the notes of 

 the female, " peuk, peuk, pupil" 



As soon as the male quail is heard that you wish to 

 procure, you must advance softly to within fifty paces 

 of his station, and place the trap amongst the wheat 

 in such a position as will suffer it to fall level with 

 the ground, to prevent the bird's passing under and 

 escaping. Then retire a few steps back, when the 

 quail will soon utter its song, to which reply with t\vo 

 or three notes, that when the quail is silent he may 

 only hear one or two, from the call exactly resembling 

 the cry of the female. If this is not done with care, 

 the bird will suspect treachery, and will either retire 

 or remain silent, and never after fall into such a snare ; 

 but if skilfully done, it is surprising to see how the 

 bird proceeds directly to the call : if by chance he miss 

 the trap, he will go so near as to be within reach of 

 the hand ; in this case it is best to retire softly to the 

 other side of the trap and repeat the call, which will 

 again attract it. There are some quails that know 

 how to avoid the net, particularly if placed in too open 

 and exposed a place. In this case it is safest to turn 

 it in a corner at both ends, and thus when it tries to 

 turn it becomes entangled. 



It is proper to notice, that in damp weather, or 

 when it rains, the quail does not run, but flies im- 

 mediately towards the call. It does this also in dewy 



