50 The Partridge Family 



rescued might think of that note doesn't matter. 

 The young sportsman who aspires to become 

 a crack quail shot should pay heed to the rally- 

 ing call, and learn to imitate it to perfection. 

 Any one possessed of an ear can easily master 

 it. For short distances, whistling through the 

 lips alone will admirably serve ; but for long-range 

 calling the writer inserts the tips of thumb and 

 finger between his lips and produces a sound 

 which may be distinctly heard for a quarter of a 

 mile or more. There need be no fear of calling 

 too loudly, provided it be correctly done. A 

 quail close at hand raises an astonishing row. 

 After the first flush, the birds generally speed to 

 their favorite cover ; and once within its shelter, if 

 the day be fair, they will lie like stones. As a 

 usual thing, the cover of the North consists oi 

 one of the following : a bit of wood ; a thicket 

 of tall, slim saplings ; a field of standing corn ; a 

 patch of briers ; a fence overgrown with vines 

 and tangled stuff; a big slashing, with fallen 

 trunks and stumps and piles of brush here, there, 

 and everywhere; a large, dry ditch with overhang- 

 ing grass at the sides and a thick, short growth 

 of weeds at the bottom ; a " dirty " field, i.e. one 

 wild with burrs, thistles, etc., waist-high; the 

 brushy banks of a stream ; a bit of almost dried 

 marsh, and last, but not least, the broad, frequently 

 briery ditches either side of a railroad track 



