GAME-BIRDS 253 



and Florida became vast slaughter grounds for 

 the birds. Their numbers decreased, but the spe- 

 cies clung to existence. Even to-day quail are 

 still plentiful in the Southern States. 



Next to prairie chicken, quail present to the 

 sportsman the ideal form of upland shooting. 

 They are to be found in the overgrown fields or 

 low open thickets in coveys of a dozen to twenty 

 birds. A pointer or setter easily picks up their 

 strong scent. They are not difficult to trail and 

 afford an opportunity for the dogs to show up at 

 their best. When the covey is shot into it scat- 

 ters temporarily in all directions; single birds 

 are then difficult to locate and strain the ingenuity 

 both of men and dogs. Bob-white quail afford 

 both pleasure and exercise to the sportsman ; but 

 unfortunately, unless more stringent laws are en- 

 acted toward their preservation, there soon will 

 be none left to shoot. 



The same condition is true of the California 

 quail. These birds have been brought within the 

 last thirty years to the very edge of extinction. 

 Unlike the bob-white, their coveys sometimes 

 consisted of as many as five hundred individu- 

 als. N-ow the improvident gunner seldom sees 

 more than one tenth of that number together. 



The remaining groups of official American 

 game-birds are small and of far less importance 

 than those already touched upon. Rails are es- 

 sentially marsh birds, and, although fifteen are 



