QUAIL-SHOOTING IN THE WEST. 95 



the best of the shooting is in November and De- 

 cember. You must be up by dawn of day, and 

 scatter the hoar frost or the sparkling dew as you 

 go to your chosen grounds. In a country where 

 there are many stubbles, many corn-fields, and 

 much hazel-brush the quail delight, and there, 

 on such a morning, as soon as the sun has risen 

 over the swells of the prairies to the eastward, 

 they will be found in abundance. They roost 

 along the margins of sloughs in long grass, in 

 stubbles where the rag-weed is thick and strong, in 

 patches of brush, and along hedge-rows. Where 

 there are corn-fields along the margin of sloughs, the 

 quail are fond of roosting in the edges of the 

 corn. As soon as the sun touches the frost on the 

 corn and grass and the weeds of the overgrown 

 stubbles, the quail begin to run from their roost- 

 ing-places. At the early hours, when they are 

 first on the move, is the best time for the dogs 

 to find them, as the scent is then very good. When 

 they are really plentiful, they may be easily found 

 in any weather, but most easily on a fine, clear day, 

 early in the crisp, cool air of the bright, frosty 

 morning. When a bevy is flushed in such weather 

 as this, they scatter at once, and when they pitch 

 down they lie there hid under the first bunch of 



