A Vote for the Quail
Mr. Wicker, of Pinehurst, who
has hail quail as pets in his home
for a number of years, tells why
he prefers this bird as a candi¬
date for official honors of the
state.
By R. E. WICKER
CONSIDERABLE material has
been published in magazines
and newspapers of late in con¬
nection with the selection of an official
state bird for North Carolina.
Mr. Dudley's letter in a recent issue
of Tub State, dismissing the quail
as merely something to be shot at and
then eaten, forces me to write in de¬
fense of this friendly and friendless
little gentleman.
Having had one or more pet quail
in our homo for the past six years,
where they have been constant com-
Knions of the members of our house-
id, and being appreciative of the
many fine qualities of our other feath¬
ered friends as well, I feel that I can
speak with more than ordinary au¬
thority.
“Petunia,” the first of these pets,
whose picture and story appeared in
the dailies and magazines a few years
ago, is dead. She died where she
most enjoyed sleeping — atop the
dresser, near the bed, where she would
carry on with Mrs. Wicker a whis¬
pered discussion of the strange and
awesome noises of the night. The
barking of a dog, the mewing of a
cat or the voice of a stranger always
brought a softly-toned inquiry, which
would be continued until she heard
the reassuring voice of the person
whom she loved.
Having raised two covies — one of
seven and one of thirteen — she finally
succumbed to what must have been
the infirmities of age. Her death
took place nearly five years after she
came to us as a woebegone and fright¬
ened little mite, a day or two old.
We now have three quail as pets.
Two of them arc very gentle. Of
these, one is somewhat shy, but
neither of them has Petunia’s per¬
sonality. And don’t raise your eye¬
brows when I say that a quail has
personality, because such is most as¬
suredly the case. The third member
of the trio is a cock : very tame and
aristocratic in manner, but inclined to
be somewhat of a bully. At times he
actually seems about to attack
strangers who come into the house.
So far as his dealings with members
of the family are concerned, he is a
friendly and charming little gentle¬
man.
All this is preliminary to casting
my vote for the quail. He is unfor¬
tunate in being misunderstood and
unknown. His courtly manner, beau¬
tiful plumage and his seven distinc¬
tive calls and chirps arc little ap¬
preciated.
But the time will come when he
will bo properly appreciated and pro¬
tected as are his more gaudy and
aloof kinsmen, the cardinal and the
jav. For in him we have a rare com¬
bination of personality, friendliness
and intelligence, far beyond the
knowledge of tho cursory observers.
Many people think of a quail as
merely something to eat. It is be¬
cause of this fact that they lose sight
of the many fine qualities of the bird.
Referring to Mr. Dudley’s letter
again — that the quail is merely some¬
thing to be shot at. and then eaten
— T might add that the wild turkey
is our national bird, and it is con¬
sidered just as much of a delicacy as
is tho quail.
Let us toast the quail, therefore, be¬
cause he is not only an aristocrat but
also a gentleman. I think that North
Carolina would honor herself by nam¬
ing him the State Bird, and I sincerely
hope that when the time comes for the
Legislature to ygt© on this proposi¬
tion they will vote for the quail by a
big majority. And I might add that
I am not alone in the way I feel
about tho quail. In all the polls I
have seen mentioned in the news¬
papers, the quail apparently is the
favorite. If we are going to have a
State Bird, let us have one that the
majority of our people want.
A letter from Mrs. John S.
Moody, of Fayetteville:
“I trust I am not taking too
much liberty in sending you this
picture of my grandson. It was
taken many years ago, but I
thought it would be suitable as
a cover picture for The State,
particularly as Washington’s
birthday is approaching. The
boy has grown to manhood and
is rector of a prominent parish
in North Carolina.
Incidentally, this little boy’s
great -great -great- grand father.
Col. Thomas Whiting, held
George Washington in his arms
when the latter was baptised.”
Thanks for the picture, Mrs.
Moody. You don’t tell us the
name of your grandson, but
those who know you probably
will be able to identify him.
It’s a fine picture, and the
only reason that we’re not run¬
ning it on the front cover is be¬
cause it isn’t in the right propor¬
tions. If you’ll notice the picture
on the cover, you’ll observe that
it is practically square. It
would have been impossible for
us to cut the original photo¬
graph to this proportion.
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