20 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
the tub under the hydrant, or at the brook or puddle, 
and we have wondered if they were not looking at 
themselves in the water, flirting and twisting and turn- 
ing about just like real people at a looking-glass. 
Most birds wear short dresses or skirts in true walk- 
ing style, while a few prefer the trail. But one thing 
we have noticed: they never allow the trail to drag in 
MOUNTAIN QUAIL. 
the dust or mud, not even the road-runner, whose train 
is sometimes twelve inches long. 
A mocking-bird or a robin will let her train just 
touch the ground when she stretches up to look about 
her; but when she begins to walk again she lifts it. 
So you never see the tip of the longest tail one bit 
draggled, unless the bird is wounded or sick. 
If you watch closely, you will learn to tell a male 
bird from a female bird by its dress. To be sure, his 
