338 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



face toward the outer circumference of the circle, which 

 cannot be approached without coming to the view of 

 some bird. This arrangement is said to prove ad- 

 mirable for the safety of the whole. In theory it 

 seems a wise arrangement; in practice it works very 

 badly, since they often fly reluctantly when they have 

 comfortably adjusted themselves for a night's rest. 

 The pointer or setter may also draw very close to them 

 then, generally doing it with greater precision than 

 when they are more scattered about, the evening hours 

 being more favorable for strong scent and accurate 

 pursuit. Were not dogs trained to such stanchness 

 as is required in shooting, they could easily, at such 

 juncture, spring in and capture, as indeed some par- 

 tially trained dogs will do under the circumstances. 



In the States of greatest bird abundance, as in Ar- 

 kansas, Mississippi, etc., and where there are many 

 ragweed fields, very destructive shooting often takes 

 place near the twilight hours, when the birds have set- 

 tled themselves for their slumbers. When the dog 

 points the bevy the shooter places himself at the proper 

 distance from the roost to obtain the best scatter of 

 the shot. Then the huddled birds, being flushed, swarm 

 up loosely together for three or four feet, when the 

 shooter takes a snap shot at them, and often does 

 nearly as much damage as if he had potted them on 

 the ground. It is hardly necessary to add that this 

 practice is disapproved by all true sportsmen. 



In Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and other 

 prairie States, the quail readily adapts itself to the 



