QUAIL SHOOTING 333 



it cannot be doubted that self-control on the part of 

 gunners would result in the re-establishing of these 

 birds in goodly numbers through many sections of 

 their former range. In a certain Connecticut town, 

 where the quail had been practically exterminated, the 

 gunners, for several years, have had an understand- 

 ing that no one of them should disturb these birds. 

 The result of this protection has been that in the spring 

 of 1910 quail might be heard calling from every side 

 in certain sections of this town. It is said by the 

 gunners there that there will be great quail shooting 

 this fall. This may mean that the gunners will again 

 kill off all the quail, and that again for six or seven 

 years they will have no shooting. 



In the West are the beautiful plumed and helmeted 

 quails of the mountain, of the valley and of the desert 

 and those other birds of curious plumage and soft, 

 thick crest, Mearns' quail and the scaled quail, also 

 known, respectively, as "fool quail" and "cotton-head." 



Except for Mearns' quail, these western forms do 

 not, we are usually told, offer good shooting. They run 

 like deer before the dogs, rise at long distances, make 

 long flights, and as soon as they reach the ground 

 start running again. Mearns' quail is said to be 

 an exception to this rule, and lies close and hard. So 

 difficult are valley quail to shoot over points, that 

 many gunners of southern California do not attempt 

 to use a dog to find them, while others use dogs only 

 for retrieving, or to flush the birds while running. 



Few people in the United States have had greater 



