266 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
equally abundant along the river bottoms. The ma- 
jority of these birds were ungrown up to September, 
and scarcely any had at that date begun to assume their 
new plumage. Up to this time I do not recollect that 
I ever saw one alight in a tree; and they were still, for 
the most part, under charge of the parent, as separate 
families, rather than as the indiscriminate packs in 
which they afterward associate. With the advance of 
the month these family associations seemed to break 
up, the change of plumage was finished, the birds grew 
strong of wing, and able in all respects to look after 
themselves. No longer solicitous of shelter, they 
haunted the innumerable ravines that make down to 
the streams, and strolled in company far out on the 
prairie. In this region, at least, they showed little 
wariness all through the month. I could generally 
walk up to a covey in fair view on the bare prairie, even 
to within a few feet, before they would fly, and they 
seldom went far before realighting. Their appearance 
when not obscured by the herbage is characteristically 
peculiar. They seem to stand remarkably high on their 
legs, and generally carry their short, pointed tail some- 
what elevated; the singularity is increased when the 
long neck is outstretched, as it generally is when they 
are on the lookout. On alighting after being flushed, 
if not much alarmed, they often stand motionless at 
full height, but if badly scared, squat closely, and are 
then difficult to find if not exactly marked down. If 
without a dog, one may pass and repass among them 
without finding one, unless he happen to stumble on 
