MOUNTAIN OUAIL SHOOTING IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 



CHARLES B. NORDHOFF. 



The mountain quail is, in my opinion, the 

 best game bird of the West. The valley 

 quails are considerably smaller and afford 

 much easier shooting. Nowhere else have 



1 seen mountain quails so plentiful as in 

 lower California. Our party, consisting of 

 Dr. B., my father and me, were encamped 

 on top of the corona, which is basin shaped, 

 the sides all sloping to the center, down 

 which runs a stream. 



The first evening in camp we saw a large 

 covey of mountain quails flying across the 

 canyon to roost. Next morning we were 

 awakened by the whistle of hundreds of 

 them. Seeing the impossibility of getting 

 further sleep, Doctor and I dressed and 

 sallied forth. 



Each took a side of the canyon ; Dr. B. 

 the right, I the left. The basin was about 

 500 yards in width. The whole bottom 

 was covered with giant pines, between the 

 trunks of which was grass waist deep. The 

 right side of the canyon was covered with 

 loose heaps of boulders; on the other were 

 thick brush and dwarf pinons. 



I had been walking about 15 minutes 

 when I heard shots from the doc- 

 tor's direction. Looking up I saw 5 quails 

 pitch about 50 yards in front of me into 

 some thick manzanita brush. Sneaking care- 

 fully toward the bushes I saw them rise 40 

 yards away and go skimming off, despite the 



2 charges of No. 7 which I hurled after 

 them. I marked them down and stalked 

 them systematically. When within 20 yards 

 of where I had last seen them, the whole 

 covey rose. The flurry they made as the 

 big birds got up startled me so that my 

 first shot went wild, but taking careful 



aim as they sped away I dropped the hind- 

 most cock. Running forward with my 

 empty gun, I flushed 3 more, which got 

 away safe before I could reload. 



A few minutes after, while sitting down, 

 I saw a hen quail walking on a rock, jerk- 

 ing her crest uneasily. I potted her just as 

 she was about to fly. Walking on I heard 

 the call of a quail from near the roots of a 

 pine. As I walked slowly toward the tree 

 with my gun raised and my finger on the 

 safety catch, 2 birds rose and flew in op- 

 posite directions. With a right and left I 

 dropped them within 40 yards of each other, 

 both cocks, in the pink of condition. 



At intervals I had heard the bang of Dr. 

 B.'s Parker, and concluded to see how 

 many birds he had. On the way over 

 I got 2 single birds. I found the Doctor 

 had 8, all cocks. 



We decided to try our luck among a 

 great number of boulders, covering per- 

 haps 3 acres. Fifty yards ahead we heard 

 the call of a quail, which seemed to come 

 from a sumac bush among the rocks. 

 Presently we saw a large covey running 

 ahead of us instead of flying. Seeing that 

 we could not overtake them I made a cir- 

 cuit, headed them into a little canyon, 

 and each of us ran down a side. When 

 near them they flew out at different sides 

 of the canyon, giving us easy shots. Each 

 got a bird. 



On the way back to camp we saw im- 

 mense flocks of mountain bluejays. These 

 beautiful birds are a little larger than 

 robins, with large, bright blue crests. They 

 are found only in the high mountains of 

 the Western States and Mexico. 



HE AM DE FISH. 



C. S. MARSHALL. 



De trout he'll sometimes loaf an' wait, 



Den kinder wink at you ; 

 De bass he ketch right holt de bait, 



An break your pole in two. 

 De perch he am so dredful small 



He scacely makes a taste, 

 An' de carp, whene'er he bites at all, 



Am only so much waste ; 

 De eel am such a slipp'ry ting 



A nigger 'fraid of him; 



26s 



While de turtle he am sho'ly king 



Of all de frauds dat swim. 

 But de catfish wid de forked tail — 



De fish wid de yeller sides — 

 De one what bites in calm or gale 



Am de fish to stuff our hides. 

 He takes yo' bait an' gulps it down, 



Clean down to his livin' place; 

 He am de fish, fried good an' brown, 



Pat sho'ly fits my case. 



