1 6 The Partridge Family 



Both cock and hen are watchful guardians, and 

 the first note of alarm from one or the other sends 

 the young to cover with an amazing celerity. 

 Either parent will simulate lameness to draw an 

 intruder away from the skulking chicks. 



A brood of young quail suddenly come upon 

 in an open space will disappear as though the 

 ground had swallowed them. They have a mar- 

 vellous knack of diving under short grass and tiny 

 leaves, and, once hidden, they will remain motion- 

 less until actually trodden upon. In anything like 

 cover, a search for them would resemble the quest 

 of the proverbial needle, while even upon almost 

 bare ground only the sharpest eyes can locate 

 them. Many writers have claimed that a chick 

 will turn upon its back and cover itself with a 

 leaf which it holds in position by its feet. This 

 is, to say the least, extremely doubtful, especially 

 as regards the holding of the leaf in any position 

 by either feet or bill. A chick, in its rapid dart 

 to cover, might turn upon its side, or even upon 

 its back, under a leaf. In its anxiety to avoid any 

 telltale movement, it might remain and be found 

 in the awkward position, but to state that it delib> 

 erately seizes the leaf, turns over, and holds the 

 screen in position, is going a bit too far. What 

 it actually does, in all probability amounts to 

 nothing more than an instinctive dive into the 

 nearest cover, a motionless pause, and a trust to 



