Ul'LAND SHOOTINr;. 263 



Oiiaii we go after this bevy ]" 



" Not yet, T had rather wait till thoy begin to run, we may 

 very likely miss thorn otherwise." 



On they went, therefore, and periV'ctly right were they to go 

 on ; foi- Prritus' mode of beating for Quail is the true one 

 This cunning little bird, having either the power, or the pecu 

 liarity, of retaining its scent for sinne short time after alighting, 

 when it is alarmed, so that the best dogs in the world shall fail 

 to tiiid it. This may be nn accidental provision of nature, pos- 

 sibly owing to some contraction of the pores, and consequent 

 check of the odoriferous effluvium, owing to alarm ; but I am 

 rather inclined to believe that it is an absolute power of the 

 bird, and arising from an exertion of will, — since I have inva- 

 riably observed, during the period in which the Quail gives 

 forth no scent, it cannot b(^ I'orced to rise even in the openest 

 and most easy ground, unless actually almost trodden on. 



I have repeatedly marked Quail, literally to a yard, both in 

 open bog-meadows, and in woods of tall timber, clear of under- 

 brush, and have beat unsuccessfully with good dogs, immedi- 

 ately after marking them, until almost convinced that I was 

 mistaken in the fact of their having dropped where I imagined. 

 Yet, on returning afterward, when they had begun to move 

 about, and call a little, I have found my first opinion to be cor- 

 rect. 



On one occasion, I distinctly remember marking three Quail 

 into a little briar patch, on a dry tussocky meadow, and seven 

 more of the same bevy some fifty or sixty yards farther, into 

 Ion (J grass and ruslies, by the margin of a boggy stream, under 

 willows. 



At this time I was perfectly aware of the peculiarity of which 

 I am speaking ; but, owing to the lay of the ground, and the 

 direction of my beat, I had no option but to try it at once. I beat 

 the briar patch, which could not have exceeded twenty yards in 

 diameter, carefully to and fro, with a brace of Setters, crossing 

 and rccrossing it, and myself kicking and trampling the bushes, 

 but in vain. 



