OUTDOORS 



in the prairie country and " timber-quail," as 

 they are called, that are found in the creek 

 and river-bottoms, and which feed to some 

 extent on acorns. The timber-quail are 

 darker colored and perceptibly larger than 

 the prairie birds, and are swifter and stronger 

 on the wing. Timber-quail are, generally 

 speaking, remarkably fine birds big, strong, 

 and affording splendid sport. There is, of 

 course, absolutely nothing to differentiate the 

 quail in the timber and the quail of the prai- 

 ries, excepting these points of size and gener- 

 ally darker coloring. Their flight is stronger 

 and swifter because they are bigger birds. 



For quail shooting a sixteen-gauge gun, 

 cylinder-bored in both barrels, is the best gun. 

 Nine-tenths of the shots are made within 

 forty-five yards, most of them within thirty 

 or thirty-five yards. The choke-bored gun in 

 quail shooting cuts the bird to ribbons or 

 smashes the flesh into a jelly. A straight- 

 stocked, cylinder bore, six to seven pounds in 

 weight, with nitro powder and number eight 

 shot, is the right combination for this kind of 

 shooting. You don't have to hold ahead of 

 a quail much with the nitro powder, except 

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