70 A LONG, DAY WITH THE BIRDS 
light in getting into a patch of standing beans. 
The flight of the birds is very characteristic. 
It is always low, and the wings are moved 
very rapidly and then suddenly stopped for 
a while, when they skim long distances with 
the wings outstretched and motionless. When 
the birds have been shot at even once or 
twice, they get very wild, and have to be 
driven and waited for, this being the only 
way they can then be got at all. A cold 
and wet season at nesting time kills off large 
quantities of young birds, so that the sport 
obtained in September and after, depends 
much on the weather of the earlier part of 
the year. The coveys break up and both 
species pair at the end of February or begin- 
ning of March, nest in April to May, and the 
young are strong on the wing by the end of 
July. From ten to fifteen or more eggs are 
laid. 
The young of the English birds keep to- 
gether and are found in coveys. Twenty 1s 
a good covey. The mother takes the care 
of the brood. The smaller size and feebler 
