io8 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



man is a natural butcher. It takes wild things some 

 time to realize that there are no gentle men, and obvi- 

 ously this lesson is learned more slowly by birds or 

 animals living in places unfrequented by man than in 

 regions where he is more numerous. Even the ruffed 

 grouse, which, in thickly settled regions, is the wisest, 

 wildest and most wary of birds, is in some localities so 

 unafraid that the passer-by who will tie a noose of cord 

 on the end of a six-foot pole, may pass the loop over 

 the bird's head and drag it from its perch. 



The Mearns quail is reported to be less graceful in 

 carriage and less elegant in shape than some of its rela- 

 tives which inhabit the same region, but may not this 

 be only another way of stating that it is unsuspicious 

 and not easily alarmed? The wariest of gallinaceous 

 birds, if ignorant of the presence of an enemy, carries 

 its feathers more or less loosely, walks with a short 

 neck, and has a rounded back, thus presenting an ap- 

 pearance very different from the same bird when it 

 is startled or alarmed and about to take to flight. 

 Then the neck is stretched upward, the bird stands high 

 on its legs, all its feathers are pressed close to its body, 

 its crest is raised, and it stands there alert and pre- 

 pared to dart away at a second's warning. 



In Texas this bird is known as the black quail, or 

 the black-bellied quail, while, as said, in Arizona, on 

 account of its gentle nature it is called fool quail. It 

 is said to frequent rocky ravines heading well up into 

 the mountains, but of recent years has come to the 

 ranches, and is found feeding in the green fields. Cap- 



