24 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



beginning as early as usual; but from September in the 

 South to November in the North the broods have become 

 indistinguishable from their parents. Of course there 

 are exceptions to this, and the first brood may have 

 been hatched late, or the second brood delayed for some 

 cause. I have met young birds unable to fly any dis- 

 tance and covered with pin-feathers as late as the last 

 of November and beginning of December. Quail are 

 affectionate birds, and each little family keeps always 

 together, no member ever leaving the main body unless 

 under compulsion, and then is very restless and unhappy 

 until it has regained its companions. 



When flushed the birds rise in a bunch, with a resound- 

 ing whir of the rapidly moving wings, very disturbing 

 to the young sportsman, and fly usually together in 

 a straight line, and alight all at once not far from each 

 other, when they lie close and motionless, permitting 

 the sportsman to flush them singly. If disturbed more 

 than once they then become widely scattered, occasionally 

 alighting in trees, and seek the deepest thickets and most 

 impenetrable places they can find. After they have 

 remained unmolested for some considerable time they 

 begin to move, and some little brown clump or tuft will 

 stir and disclose a bird, its bright black eye glancing 

 in every direction, the little creature all alert to every 

 sound and motion. It gathers confidence in the stillness 

 of its retreat, and gently utters a low Quoi-i-hee and 

 listens. No response is heard, and again the same call 

 is uttered, perhaps a little louder, and this time a similar 

 faint cry comes in reply. Our little friend takes a few 

 steps in the direction of the sound and calls again, and 

 now from various parts of the field and thicket comes 

 the cry Quoi-i-hee, quoi-i-hee, until, guided by their 

 voices, the little band is again united, and their plaintive 



