LADY BETTY'S HUSBAND 105 



One reason why quail are so valuable is that the first 

 brood usually hatches within a few days after the grasshop- 

 pers emerge from their nests, and the baby quails eat them 

 by the thousands. After half an hour or so, when the babies 

 had all dined, the mother hovered beside a clod so nearly 

 her own color that no sparrow hawk which might chance 

 to fly overhead could notice her, and the babies snuggled 

 under her or sprawled about her in the sunshine for a nap. 



Toward evening, after the babies had fed and slept by 

 turns throughout the day, the mother led her family 

 back to sleep, perhaps for the last time in the home nest. 

 Had it been necessary to wander far in search of food, 

 she would not have returned to the nest for even the first 

 night. The second evening this mother merely crept 

 under the hedge and settled for the night on some dry 

 leaves. Within a week she ceased to hover her brood, and 

 instead they all sat beside her until morning. 



By the time Bob was twenty-four hours old his father 

 joined the family and bore his full share of the family 

 responsibilities. When Bob was about two weeks old he 

 was surprized to have his faithful little mother disappear 

 for two or three hours one day. His father became even 

 more watchful and solicitous for the safety of the family. 

 When the mother returned, however, the children were all 

 delighted to see her. The next day she disappeared again 

 and this became the daily program for nearly two weeks. 

 Probably Bob did not know that his sweet little mother 

 had made another nest and was stealing away every day 

 to add an egg to the growing treasure that was soon to 

 be hatched into another brood of baby quails. 



Before Bob was a month old he could fly as well as 

 any bird, though he was not yet nearly grown up. His 



