66 FEATHERED GAME 
Each in a different course they bustle away 
and in his haste the novice mayhap ‘‘shoots into 
the bunch,’’ to find to his surprise that there 
is a whole lot of sky with no Quail flying in it. 
The veteran usually, but not invariably, re- 
members to choose a bird and may get one with 
each barrel. Because of their close lying the 
bulk of the shots are straight away and so are 
fairly easy, but the cross shots at short range 
—O, my! Still, all in all, I think quail shoot- 
ing is easier than any wood shooting in New 
England at grouse or ’cock, partly because 
Mr. Quail seldom, if ever, uses that favorite 
trick of Bonasa, tangling his enemy’s legs 
into a knot as he tries to follow the bird’s 
swift circle around the shooter’s head. Sev- 
eral times I have seen shooting companions 
thus caught with legs askew sit down suddenly 
from the recoil of their weapons in an attempt 
to stop a curling grouse. Kills are few in 
such cases. Then, too, the woodcock’s tower- 
ing start and erratic course when alarmed is 
to most sportsmen a much more difficult propo- 
sition than the bee-line directness of Bob White. 
As a rule when a covey is flushed they fly 
only a few hundred yards. Perhaps next time 
