QUAIL SHOOTING 337 



.grouse for of the one it may be said, without quali- 

 fication, that it is a bird of the prairie; of the other, 

 that it is a bird of the woods. Such sayings of them 

 will be found to be true wherever those birds may be 

 found. 



The quail thrives wherever it can obtain a food sup- 

 ply, in open or in cover. It readily adjusts its habits 

 to the dominating circumstances of food and cover, 

 whether it be in prairie or woods, or a country com- 

 prising both open and cover. 



In the country north of the Ohio and east of the 

 Mississippi River, it frequents the open fields largely, 

 preferring such as have a good food supply, with 

 hedges or old walls and fences fringed with brush, or 

 nearby woods and thickets to which it can run or 

 fly for shelter or safety. In such sections it rarely goes 

 far into the woods, preferring to skirt around the outer 

 edges of them, merely for protection and shelter. The 

 hawks are its deadly enemies, and it needs ever to be 

 alert in avoiding them. 



The quail oftenest roosts in the open fields, where 

 there is at least a few inches growth of grass, stubble 

 or weeds for concealment, and it uses the same place 

 many times if not constantly disturbed. This is indi- 

 cated by the grass or other vegetation being beaten 

 down in the roost, a small circular opening, about 

 two feet in diameter, and the pile of droppings in the 

 center of it. 



The birds huddle on the ground, bunched up close 

 in a circular form, with their heads outside; thus all 



