| Show QUAIL the mae ponderous v vans ans of the express companies ies les daily lumbering bv by often of bear aloft and overtopping over topping the great boxes and ana packages t of merchandise as a warriors plume flutters above his he helmet met festoons fes of feathered game stark in death and stiffly frozen the ile major por tioff orT of this vast contribution from the western wilds to the tables of the epicurean east consists of quail though the thel trophies of game are diversified by an occa occasional siona slona grouse a doe or buck and less frequently a partridge As each wagon passes thus laden with it h the spoils of the inexorable pot hunter it seems like a funeral f car bearing away so many of the them rightful inheritors heri tors of the soil whose places are to tobe tobo be filled never again by their congeners conveners cong eners and descendants for the annual raid into the habitats of the grouse quail performed bythe by the merciless slaughter slaughterers ers for market is thinning out the several species and ere cre many mani years their prairie ranges and close coverts converts will know not the presence of the once abundant game birds we confess to a more than ordinary affection for the pretty quail the gentle bob white of our boyhood we could cool neverra never hever raise lse the fatal tube to do him harm without a qualm of conscience or see his plump body fall helpless upon the meadow crass ass while the torn feathers floated off ii with the Z le smoke that curled from the murderous gun without uttering a vow never again to be guilty of that shame for bob is a blithe lithe genial little fellow affecting in much the society of man and craving his protection often when the wild storm rages across the bleak prairies and the he ricks ticks arid and outhouses out houses of the farmer offer better shelter than the tussocks socks of frozen grass ile he is a domes tic home keeping and homely minded I 1 gentleman confiding in his nature and when wh en I 1 kindly treated full of the reciprocity y of good fellowship unlike his gallinaceous brethren the grouse of the prairie wood and mountain i lie he has an abiding faith falth in man an and it takes much hard usage to destroy this touching trait in in his character his cheerful pipe is always heard about the garners and the stack stacks of the ag agriculturist and his mottled head and diamond eyes are const constanti constantly antl anti y seen in the snug cornera of the zigzag zig caf eaf zag fence or peeping ou oui from among the grea great logs piled for the winters fire see him when the glrst first sharp winds of winter win begin to rustle the crisp spears of grass and the early snow is drifting among the herbage with a rattle that sends a shiver through the frame of the wayfarer and the houseless the ponds are glazed with ice and the briw dried seeds and husks rudely driven by the blast I 1 tingle like tiny bells as they dance over 0 v er the ilare elare glare surface the sky is leaden and fr from the distant distant pines come such sounds as carry otto to the car the semblance of death wails all nature is preparing for the bernal hibernal bi season and seems to yield to its filience influence in with but regretful acquiescence acquis cence then from leafy covert and secret nook from out the p poor 0 r shelter of fallen lops logs and piles of brush an and d knots 0 of f withered stalks and among the stubble of the wheat lind and by the piles of gathered stone memorials thesa last of youthful industry and stolid remi reminders oders of many a stubbed toe t 0 e and bleeding finger from all these har harboring borin I 1 places laces and summer shelters come the families camilie s of quail g uail seeking the more tempting krotec protection tion afforded in th haunts of man ad and evincing evincing their confidence in him by th the e saucy pertness 11 of their demeanor then when the deep snows come and the thick mantle of fleecy white is over all the grouns ground when the roof is encumbered and the eaves are overhung with a drapery of unsullied when the well sweep and the gate posts and the hen lien coops fre clad in f and shrub and free tree bend bead i under their r armor armon of crystal cryst ala aln then the farm I 1 ers boy early earl eari we vv ending tiding his big way through the drifts to feed and water the beasts of his charge c ar e and speckling the unsullied surface with abrib dots showered from his tin lantern wake wakes sa a bevy of the gentle birds and hear hears their plaintive cry of bob white oh bob white as they nestle in in the warm recesses of stacks 1 later in the day their tracks are seen indented in the yielding snow and their voices are heard as the busy rascals chipper about and make merry in n their snug retreats ich who could set a trap to entice them now who could be so cruel as to murder these trusting harmless seekers arne after J mans charity chanty let th the sportsman who jhb traves craves the excitement of the chase level his hig weapon at than the gent gentle gentie i et shivering whose very veny ery cry impudence ae leading ad 1 n g him to quarter upon our premises and claim protection at our or hands la is but an nn evidence of bif his belief in the creature whom most oher other wild things avoid with fear when spring time comes and the snowy covering has hag melted off when the earth reeks with moisture and am softens beneath the life ilfe div gil ing rays of an ah april suir sat when the buds begin to swell and the insects put off their torpor and alii alil seek beek the surface the rivulets are freed from their icy bones and run gurgling with glee through meadow and pasture lot when the sad aid walls wails of the forest are changed to hope ful fui f ul murmurs and the sap starts from root then the children of the tile family searching lona lonn iora for the jackknife jack ack k knife efe ife that was loeb lost before the snows ill lii fell feil and exploring among the chips chip 3 for the missing mi asing axe see bee se e the bevies 0 of I 1 quail placidly sunning themselves by the south side of the barn where the reflected warmth lias has dried the ground and the mellow loam affords exercise for their tos toes then gathered in to domestic harmony they talk over their family secrets tipping lipping their heads to one side and gos sipping after a fashion at once comical and touching there are weddings on the carpet now and much bliss in anticipations eligible matches are arra arranged ned under the lee 04 the com house and master bob and miss white take pensive strolls along the edge of the kitchen garase garden arden ever ev er and annon chirruping chir out a tender p phrase or laying their heads together muc lucli meal in the same way that we have hav e seen young men meu and maidens do do in circles of our acquaintance matrimony Ma matrimony trimon eu en grosses bosses rosses their thoughts and the bans have already tr reat been put up from the great altar of gods high cathedral catli edral where everything that is is may come and ana worship and lind none shall sa say them nay bye and bye there will be oe weddings weddings and honeymoons and so 03 03 until another winter comes round and makes the quail again the guest of the hospitable farmer 7 such was bob iboa when we H e knew him dars gars years gone by it may be that harried and riven driven shot snared soared and trapped the poor creature has ha s been fright ed from his old haunts and sent to shiver out his remainder ot of life in the poor shelter of the frozen stubble and the hollow log if so we may bid farewell to one of the kindliest kind liest most quiet cunning and saucy of the ferae erae of our country god protect thee bob white since nan man has as become thine enemy and anal some day when thy voice is no rw longer 0 heard in in the corn or thy bright brig lit eyes seen peeping through the thein in the virginian fence some friend of thine may write of thy virtues thy sufferings and extinction fex rex |
