THE QUAIL 



incubation had passed before Gypsy found the nest, but when 

 we thought the time for the brood to emerge was close I was on 

 hand and ready. A three-days' wait made me careless; the 

 following day I did not reach the lease until nine o'clock. The 

 tailpiece of this chapter shows what I had for my trouble. Not 

 much, you think? 



That one little picture helps to settle two questions long in 

 dispute concerning the Quail. Many writers contend that young 

 Quail remain in the nest some time after they emerge. They 

 go before they are thoroughly dry and feed themselves from the 

 start. The proud father, with head feathers flared to a crest 

 and hackle bristling, leads the way, the young follow, the mother 

 brings up the rear. When either old bird sights a morsel fit for 

 the young to eat it calls the chicks to come and with its bill indi- 

 cates what is to be eaten, often breaking the food up so that as 

 many as possible shall get a bite. The young had left this nest so 

 soon after hatching that the shells were warm, while flies and ants 

 were gathering over them, attracted by tiny fresh blood vessels in 

 the lining. 



Also these shells seemed to prove that the mother had 

 gone over each egg at time for emergence and with her sharp, 

 strong bill cut the shell and lining in halves, releasing the young. 

 I had been contradicted so frequently on this statement that I 

 had quit making it, until this nest of shells was found. They 

 clearly show that the work is done from the outside, as a deep 

 rim is bent in, the lining cut instead of torn, and each shell divided 

 exactly in halves. 



There was pleasure in proving this point long defended, but I 

 bewailed those babies. So to comfort me Bob said we would 

 search beside the river and perhaps we could find them. Neither 

 of us had much hope, but there were so many other things to find 

 we were sure not to waste time, so we started. We did find things, 



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