The Family of Bob-White 97 



his way through the shell, his lusty peep had 

 set all the others to work and in half an hour 

 the whole brood had arrived. Then, when 

 they had dried and had a little time in which 

 to gain strength, they were ready for the 

 world. 



Forth they all came, the mother clucking 

 and bristling and the chicks scampering this 

 way and that, pecking at almost invisible 

 plant-lice and bugs and feeding themselves 

 within the same hour that they came from the 

 nest. 



For two or three nights Mrs. Bob- White 

 led them back to the old nest, but after that 

 it was given up and they never returned to it. 



One night when they were about a week 

 old Mrs. Bob- White led them to sleep in a 

 little hollow under an overhanging rock. 

 During the night there was a terrible down- 

 pour of rain and the hollow filled rapidly. 

 Before the young mother could conduct her 

 chicks to higher and drier ground, three were 

 drowned in the puddle. 



After this, there were no fatalities in the 



