The Quail 13 



friends and plentiful enough to keep his gun 

 barrels hot. 



The nest of the quail is built upon the ground, 

 and usually it is well concealed. Favorite sites 

 for it include the long growth about a fence or 

 bush, an angle in the roots of an old stump or a 

 thick tuft in a pasture. It may be under a log 

 or the edge of a dry ditch, in the orchard or the 

 hay-field, or even in some snug corner about a 

 barn or outbuilding; wherever it be, its discov- 

 ery is apt to be accidental. If in a hay-field, it 

 may be arched over with interwoven grasses and 

 have an entrance at one side. Occasionally this 

 entrance is concealed by a short, roughly con- 

 structed, tunnel-like approach. 



The nest is a puzzle in its way. At first glance 

 one sees a startling array of snow-white, highly 

 polished eggs, rather larger than the size of the 

 bird would lead one to expect, and shaped like so 

 many small peg-tops. The treasure house may 

 have been located after a long search, but when 

 found, you wonder how you failed to at once 

 detect it. Then you marvel at the arrangement 

 of the eggs, which are invariably closely packed, 

 with the pointed ends downward. If you were 

 foolish enough to take them out, the odds would 

 be ten to one against your being able to put them 

 back again, yet the wise little hen did it without 

 hands or your boasted knowledge. Apropos of 



