QUAIL SHOOTING IN CALIFOENIA. 



The quail is very abundant througliout California ; and, 

 the species being one which is founds if not exclusively, 

 at least principally in this State, it is generally called 

 the Californicm quail. It is a very handsome, plump, 

 beautifully-shaped bird, about three-fourths the size of 

 a partridge, very strong on the wing, and swift. The 

 male birds has two crest-like feathers on his head. For 

 shooting them you want a light gun, as they are 

 exceedingly quick the moment they are flushed, though 

 their flight is even and straight, and the best dog for the 

 sport is a good retriever. The general character of 

 the country being brush up to the knee, the greatest 

 difficulty is in recovering birds, and getting to them. 

 The immense quantities render the finding them an easy 

 matter, with a dog that will hunt close and retrieve well. 

 Next to deer shooting, which an old sportsman calls the 

 " poetry of shooting," I think quail shooting in Cali- 

 fornia the most delightful sport in existence. Of course 

 there is not the excitement of the '' grooved barrel,'* 

 laying low the noble stag or ferocious grizzly, where 

 upon eye and nerve depend perhaps one's life. But the 

 loveliness of this favoured land, the surpassing excellence 

 of its balmy air, its exhilarating and delicious climate, its 

 mountains just steep enough to show all the exquisite 

 variety of hill and dale, the abundance of the game, and 

 the sense of unconstrained freedom, all combine to render 

 quail shooting in California a most delightful sport. 



