652 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



with their parents. Like most other Gallinaceous birds, 

 the young run about as soon as they are freed from the 

 shell, and gain the complete use of their wings in about 

 a fortnight from hatching. They are now attentively 

 conducted by the mother, and occasionally by either pa- 

 rent, in quest of their appropriate food, and called togeth- 

 er in a voice resembling the low twittering of chickens. 

 At times they shelter beneath the wings of the mother ; 

 but if the little busy flock are startled by danger, artifice, 

 rather than courage, is the instinctive means of safety em- 

 ployed by all the party. The parents flutter in the path, 

 in real as well as simulated distress, and the young, in- 

 stantly aware of their critical situation, make no useless 

 attempts to fly, but vanish singly, and closely hiding among 

 the withered grass, which they almost resemble in color, 

 are thus fortunately rendered nearly altogether invisible. 

 The alarm at length dissipated, the tender, cautious call of 

 the parents, again reassembles the little grateful family. 



The eggs of the quail have been often hatched by the 

 domestic hen ; but the vagrant disposition of the diminu- 

 tive brood, the difficulty of procuring their proper food, 

 and the superior attention they require over chickens, 

 prevent the possibility of their domestication ; and even 

 when they have survived the winter in this state, the re- 

 turn of spring leads them to wander off" in compliance 

 with that powerful instinct, which inspires them to a mu- 

 tual separation. 



So familiar are these little birds, that occasionally, as 

 described by Wilson, they have been known to lay their 

 eggs in the nest of the domestic hen, when situated at 

 any considerable distance from the habitation. From 

 two eggs thus deposited were raised a pair of young 

 Cluails, which, when abandoned by the hen, showed their 

 social attachment by accompanying the cows. These 



