186 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



one day, with blunt arrows. I would now willingly 

 tramp all day to kill as many with breech-loader. 



Quail are very fond of grain of nearly all kinds, 

 especially corn and buckwheat ; and in such fields they 

 will surely be found. They are fond of seeds, berries, 

 and in old cattle paths they get the cream of their 

 existence. 



The old saying about " the early bird catching the 

 worm " is true here. The early hunter is the suc- 

 cessful one. He should start out in the gray of the 

 morning, and when the sun is showing his genial face, 

 banishing the frost from trees, grass and stubble, the 

 keen dog should be widely ranging through expectant 

 places, and his master should be no laggard. There is 

 no sport excelled by this. The bracing, keen air, the 

 tireless setter, the expected game, the broad fields, the 

 panorama stretched before the hunter, clothed in purple, 

 green, yellow and brown, all serve to make the hunt 

 intensely exciting. Nature, touched by the withering 

 hand of Jack Frost, presents a picture never to be for- 

 gotten. The constant anticipation of finding the hidden 

 bird, the ceaseless watching of the bounding dog, as he 

 leaps joyously forward, sweeping his silken tail to and 

 fro over the grass, is a sight so grand that it fills the 

 very soul of the hunter with delight. 



" When Autumn smiles, all beauteous in decay 

 And paints each checkered grove with various hues, 

 My setter ranges in the new shorn fields 

 His nose in air erect; from ridge to ridge, 

 Panting he bounds, his quartered ground divides 

 In equal intervals, nor careless leaves 

 One inch untried. At length, the tainted gales 

 His nostrils wide inhale ; quick joy elates 

 His beating heart, which awed by discipline 

 Severe, he dares not own, but cautious creeps, 

 Low, cowering step by step, at last, attains 

 His proper distance, there he stops at once. 



