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A TRUE STORY OF A WAYWARD BOB WHITE. 



Mother Bob White, with due maternal 

 care, had selected a most appropriately 

 concealed spot for her treasure. The 

 roughly constructed nest was built upon 

 high ground, ''and was artfully hidden at 

 the base of a tuft of dried grass. That llie 

 necessary moisture, which adds vitality 

 and strength to the young should not be 

 lacking, she had deposited her eggs al- 

 most upon the bare earth, only a thin, 

 but closely woven mat of dried grass in- 

 tervening between the nine white eggs 

 and the brown earth. The days of in- 

 cubation were divided between the two 

 old birds, the cock performing his share 

 of the parent's duties. When the hen 

 was collecting her food he would nestle 

 down upon the eggs with a care equally 

 as great as that bestowed by the mother. 



After the chicks were hatched the cock 

 shook himself free of any and all respon- 

 sibility, and betook himself to the 

 meadows to enjoy the more liberal forage. 

 This desertion was most satisfactory to 

 the mother, for no doubt she wished to 

 have the entire training of the little ones 

 left strictly to her care. She would not 

 lead the chicks forth until sure of his de- 

 parture. What flufify little brown beau- 

 ties they were as they dodged in and out 

 among the weeds and grasses, learning 

 their first lessons in the roughest school 

 of life, the school of experience ! They 

 had many dangers to guard against, and 

 they learned that much work was re- 

 quired of them before their insatiable lit- 

 tle appetites were satisfied. They must 

 brave attacks from foxes, skunks, weasels 

 and minks upon the ground, and at the 

 same time keep an alert eye upward for 

 the sudden advent of some hungry hawk 

 by day, or the relentless swoop of owls by 

 night. Their nights were spent in anx- 

 iety, and, in fact, then they were most in- 

 secure, as owls, and foxes especially, ap- 

 preciate a young quail and exert them- 

 selves to capture them. Their caution, 

 however, could not interfere with their 

 obtaining a supply of food and water, so 

 they braved many dangers every hour of 

 their lives, and not many days after their 



entrance into this world they had gained 

 the assurance which comes from meeting 

 and overcoming difficulties. 



Mother Bob White had been carefully 

 guarding her little brown family, leading 

 them forth daily in quest of small bugs 

 and scattered seeds, always upon the look- 

 out for possible enemies, never failing to 

 flutter away, feigning a crippled wing, 

 should I chance to come upon her sud- 

 denly. And on such occasions look as 

 quickly and intently as I might I seldom 

 caught a glimpse of those brown bodies 

 that so well obey the parting cry of warn- 

 ing, uttered by the mother as she fluttered 

 just beyond my reach, leading me straight 

 away from her trembling family. Should 

 you wish to find one of the little chicks 

 you may do so by carefully feeling among 

 the tufts of grass and other decayed 

 brown vegetation nearest the spot where 

 one's eye lost them. 



Upon one occasion I discovered sev- 

 eral of this little brood in a most peculiar 

 and interesting situation. I had startled 

 the mother-bird while she was leading her 

 young ones through a wood, the ground 

 thickly covered with dried leaves, and, as 

 she fluttered away from almost beneath 

 my feet, I dared not move for fear of 

 crushing one of the chicks. They scat- 

 tered and seemed to have disappeared on 

 all sides near me. Gazing intently upon 

 the mass of brown leaves, I was thinking 

 how I could extricate myself without 

 harming the hidden brood, when my eye 

 caught the slight motion of a leaf almost 

 against my foot. I stooped and gently 

 raised the leaf. It felt wonderfully heavy. 

 This oddity of weight prepared me for 

 the surprise yet in store. When the leaf 

 had been lifted a sufficient distance to en- 

 able me to look beneath, I caught a 

 glimpse of a tiny brown rascal clinging 

 desperately. He was in the drollest of 

 positions, clinging feet uppermost. 



I soon learned to know about where 

 Mrs. Bob White's brood could be found, 

 and they were quite grateful for the 

 crumbs scattered daily within their reach, 

 usually along an old and dusty wagon 



