hen will either flush or run where there is no under- 

 cover in which to hide, and the valley quail being so 

 often found in dry, open places or chaparral devoid of 

 undercover, will either flush or run until it finds suit- 

 able hiding grounds. 



But give the valley quail cover in which to hide and 

 it can and will outhide any game bird except the Monte- 

 zuma quail of Mexico. In fact it is this remarkable 

 faculty of hugging the ground until it is almost stepped 

 upon that has led, more than anything else, to its false 

 reputation as a runner. The man who hunts the valley 

 quail without a dog and most of its detractors do 

 can walk through a patch of good cover with a hundred 

 birds scattered in it for an hour or more and not get up 

 a half dozen. Unlike the bobwhite or the Montezuma 

 quail of Mexico, the valley quail bunches in the fall. 

 These bunches will contain anywhere from two or three 

 broods to two or three hundred individuals, and some- 

 times even thousands, and they seem to understand that 

 the larger the bunch the greater the necessity for avoid- 

 ing pursuit. They are fond of the open places and the 

 bare hill-tops and when driven from these, being a 

 brush bird, they very naturally seek the brush. If there 

 is no grass or suitable undercover in which to hide they 

 will continue to work their way through it or double 

 back on their pursuers until hiding places are found, 

 when they will hug the ground so closely that even a 

 good dog must pass reasonably near to them before he 

 will detect their scent. The man who hunts without a 

 dog generally passes through the cover into which his 

 bevy has settled, continues his walk for a mile or more, 

 then sits down, filling the air with a sulphurous streak 

 of strong sounding words as he curses the game little 

 birds for running, while the resourceful little fellows, 

 closely hid, laugh over the security a false reputation 

 has given them. 



There has been a great deal written about the ability 

 of quail to withhold their scent, and many theories have 

 been advanced. That all game birds do lose their scent 

 temporarily while passing rapidly through the air I be- 

 lieve to be true, and the valley quail has this faculty 

 strongly added to its other resources. This too often 

 deceives the inexperienced man even when hunting with 

 a dog. Where birds have been flushed into good cover 

 and can not be raised, sit down and take a smoke, if 

 you like, for twenty minutes or half an hour, then cast 

 in your dog and you will be rewarded with point after 

 point, where before your dog failed to detect the slight- 

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