98 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
forward, together forming a helmet-shaped bundle. 
The webs are loose; they bend backward from the shaft 
so that this forms the front border of the feather. Each 
feather is thus folded or imbricated over the next suc- 
ceeding, and the whole are packed into a single fascicle 
in this manner. The crest is freely movable, and its 
motions are subject to voluntary control. It is usually 
carried erect, but sometimes drops forward, or oblique- 
ly, over one eye, and occasionally is allowed to hang 
backward, though it cannot be made to lie close over 
the occiput. The crest sprouts when the chicks are 
only a few days old, about the time that the first true 
feathers appear upon the wings and tail... . 
“All quail are Precoces, as already explained, and 
the chicks of this species are certainly precocious little 
things, if we may judge by their actions when they are 
disturbed. They run about as soon as they are hatched, 
though probably not ‘with half shell on their backs,’ 
as some one has said. In a few days they become very 
nimble, and so expert in hiding that it is difficult either 
to see or catch them. When the mother bird is sur- 
prised with her young brood, she gives a sharp warning 
cry that is well understood to mean danger, and then 
generally flies a little distance to some concealed spot, 
where she crouches, anxiously watching. The fledg- 
lings, by an instinct that seems strange when we con- 
sider how short a time they have had any ideas at all, 
instantly scatter in all directions, and squat to hide as 
soon as they think they have found a safe place, remain- 
ing motionless until the reassuring notes of the mother 
