BREAKING AND HANDLING. 295 



necessities. Early in the season the wheat stubbles, the 

 edges of corn or cotton fields, the vicinity of plum thickets, 

 or along the edges of woods, or in the woods, are promising 

 places to hunt, and occasionally they will be found in the 

 most unexpected places. Early in the morning, the peculiar 

 whistling cry of "bob-white ! bob white !" can be heard in 

 many directions far and near on a Southern plantation, and 

 the peculiar note is a guide many times to the whereabouts 

 of the birds. Later the sorghum patches are favorite resorts, 

 the birds being very fond of the seeds. In the last of No- 

 vember and in December and January, the open sedge fields, 

 along the plum thickets and the edge of woods, in fact any- 

 where except the bare fields, are good hunting places if the 

 weather continues open and mild. When the cold days set in, 

 there is an immediate change of habits. In January and Feb- 

 ruary the birds usually abandon the open fields, if the 

 weather is inclement, for the woods, such as have a good 

 growth of sedge being preferred, although in the extreme 

 South there is not much variation in their habits, the tem- 

 perature rarely being so low as the freezing point. The 

 Southern bird is quite as strong and rapid in flight as his 

 Northern congener. 



In the South, the dog can have an education that will fit 

 him for work in any section, in open and cover, bevies and 

 scattered birds, and he can be taught to work wide or close. 

 The varying habits and increased cunning of the birds, as 

 cold weather approaches, require that the dog should be 

 intelligent and observing to acquire a knowledge of their 

 habits. A manner of work which might be eminently suc- 

 cessful on a mild, quiet day might be wholly inefficient in 

 cold, rainy, or windy weather. Changes from settled to 

 unsettled weather in the late fall and winter months always 

 make the birds wilder and warier. 



Usually, in the South, the trainer or sportsman hunts from 



