CHAPTER XIII 



QUAIL. LANDRAIL. WOODCOCK. SNIPE. HARE. 

 RABBIT 



BY reason of the altered conditions of sport it is not 

 at all improbable that some quail are overlooked 

 by sportsmen in England. My experience of quail leads 

 me to believe that these birds may remain completely 

 unnoticed by partridge-shooters practising the modern 

 method of walking-up or of driving their game. Quail 

 sometimes lie very closely, and in a general way, I believe, 

 they take wing far more reluctantly than do partridges ; 

 consequently, where undiscovered by keen-scenting 

 pointer or setter, many sportsmen may remain in total 

 ignorance of the presence of quail upon their shooting. 

 It is also a fact that these diminutive game-birds are 

 sometimes overlooked even when flushed in the shooting- 

 field. On one occasion a shooting companion of mine 

 let some of these straight-flying birds go unscathed in 

 some stubbles, he being under the impression that they 

 were partridges too small to shoot. Then, too, amidst 

 the host of migrant larks, thrushes, and redwings 

 frequently met with in turnips or other shelter in late 

 summer and early autumn, quail may sometimes be over- 

 looked by sportsmen not thoroughly acquainted with 

 them. 



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