336 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
Thus, the man whose business cares leave him but a 
few days for shooting, and these at no definite time, 
has more possibilities of sport on quail than on any 
other bird. 
But the very abundance of the quail seems to have 
checked the proper appreciation of it. Not that it is 
treated with neglect, but there seems to be a lack of 
the enthusiasm and lavish use of the superlative, so 
often to be noted when writers are discoursing on 
the ruffed grouse or the woodcock. Nevertheless, it 
is not uncommon to have a keen relish for what is 
rare, even if it be not of the best, while the good may 
be so common as to escape notice. 
The quail is more uniformly and widely distributed 
throughout the United States than is any other game 
bird. Its habitat generally comprises both open and 
cover, though whole districts are exceptions, as will 
be touched on later; thus, besides giving the sports- 
man a mixed style of shooting, is added the charm of 
constant variety, and testing of the sportsman’s skill 
in woodcraft. . It differs from the ruffed grouse, whose 
home is in the woods, a much smaller section relatively. 
All works on natural history, so far as I know, teach 
that the quail’s home comprises conjointly both open 
and cover; and while this is true in a general way, 
there are important exceptions to it, so much so that 
a work devoted to the habits and habitat of the quail 
as they are in one locality might be distinctly erroneous 
if applied to the quail of some other locality. In this 
respect it differs from the prairie chicken and the ruffed 
