QROtrSE AND PARTRIDGE SHOOTINa. 251 



tone of tenderness and anxiety expressed in it. At the hunting 

 season in September and October, the grain fields furaish a harbor 

 for feeding places, and beveys of four or five, up to thirty, afford 

 sport to the sportsman. The pointer or setter is used to find the 

 game and its dkect, steady flight, makes it an easy mark for a fair 

 shot. The partridge abound from Canada to Texas and Florida, 

 and are numerous in the great Western States. Their flesh is white, 

 tender and delicious, and a supper of broiled " quail " is a sufl5cient 

 reward to the sportman with appetite sharpened by healthful ex- 

 ercise over the stubble fields. 



Quail shootmg is the most frequent and convenient sport both for 

 the country dweller, and those who are condemned by thfc pursuits 

 of business to inhabit the cities, from which they can only occa- 

 sionally steal away to the field. When in pursuit of quail, as the 

 main object, all other kinds of game are taken as they come. Grouse 

 and hares may be picked up occasionally, and the expectation of 

 finding these add to the zest of the sport. The sportsman is there- 

 fore required to be constantly on the lookout, and ready to take 

 what it may happen to be. It is not wise to be too early afield 

 after quail. The dew should be off the ground, and the birds 

 should have left their roosting places, else they may lay up for the^ 

 day out of reach, or they will not lie to the dog. From eight to nine 

 depending upon the weather somewhat, is early enough. In beat- 

 ing the ground, the first thing, is to drive the whole range up to 

 the wind, so as to give the dogs a chance to scent and to get the 

 best shots, as quail prefer to fly with the wind rather than against 

 it. When birds are flushed and marked down, they should be ap- 

 proached so as to let the dogs face the wind. 



The best ground for quail, early in the morning, is grain stubbles 

 and cornfields, and meadows adjacent to dry boggy swamps, and 

 rank places where briers, low bushes, and cranberries grow. The 

 boundaries of fields, especially where coarse weeds and brush is 

 growing, and on the bushy borders of woods, are likely places to 

 find bevys. After these have been beaten, the middles of the 

 fields may be tried. When the dog stands still, with stem out- 

 fttretched and rigid, his frame quivering with excitement, the 



