Concord, Massachusetts.
1891.
Oct. 24
(No. 3)
Carlisle. - Melvin down a wood path until his charge
riddled it.
[margin]Quail Shooting[/margin]
  We lunched on the sheltered side of a deserted
house and then drove to Robbins's Mills where
we spent about two hours searching for Partridges.
Don found and pointed two but we did not
get a shot at either.
  It was barely three o'clock when, satisfied that 
there were no Woodcock in the country, we
started for home. On reaching the Buttricks
Melvin packed his things and departed for 
Newton. As I felt quite fresh I took my gun
and sallied forth again in search of a  bevy of
Quail which have been seen lately near Minot Pratt's.
Don struck this trail on the edge of a field
where they had evidently been feeding in a patch
of weeds and followed it over the crest of a
hill covered with oak scrub, down a slope to a
swamp near the middle of which he came to
a stuff point in an opening filled with densely 
matted fire grass. I stepped in ahead of him
when the birds rose - eight or ten of them, all
giving off well together. The light was dim (it
was long after sunset) and I missed my first
bird but killed the second, a fine cock. It
was too late to follow the survivors.
  From the time when Don first struck the
scent of this bevy to his final point he did
not once lose their track which led in
a nearly straight line, the distances from
the field to the swamp being perhaps 200 yds.