368 On the Black-breasted or Ram Quail.


successfully rearing any young birds. About May 25th, however,

I missed the hen. The grass was very high, and I could not

watch the birds nearly so closely as I should like to have done,

in fact, sometimes I could not see either of them for days. Then

came the terrible wet weather, of which we had such an interes¬

ting account last month. On June 21st I thought the hen must

be dead or else the eggs spoilt by the rain, so I determined to

search for the nest. This was no easy matter, as the grass was .a

foot high and in some places there were patches of nettles three

feet high ; however, after a long search, I saw the hen dart

across a small opening in the grass, and, on looking, I found the

nest at the end of a tunnel in the grass containing seven eggs.


I was at first afraid the bird would treat the eggs as she

had done before, but on June 23rd I was delighted to see her

followed by several chicks, and on visiting the nest I found that

all seven eggs had hatched, which speaks well for the pluck}^

little bird who had sat through almost unceasing rain.


But alas! I found three dead the same morning, two more

in the evening, and one the next evening. They were supplied

with plenty of food, fresh ants’ eggs etc. The cause of their

dying seems to have been cold, for the hen, being timid, runs

away at the least sound, and if the young are not strong enough

to follow they die in a very little while.


The only young one that remained, however, was well

looked after by the hen, and was soon strong enough to follow

her about anywhere. It grew rapidly and when three weeks old

was the image of its mother, though considerably smaller.


The cock did not seem to take any notice whatever of

the young one.


The note of the cock bird in the breeding season is

worthy of a remark, it being a double whistle (not with three

notes as in the case of C. communis') repeated several times, at

first softly, but becoming louder and louder as the bird raises his

head higher and higher. It sounds more like the note of a

Parrakeet than that of a Quail.



