98 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



forward, together forming a helmet-shaped bundle. 

 The webs are loose ; they bend backward from the shaft 

 so that this forms the front border of the feather. Each 

 feather is thus folded or imbricated over the next suc- 

 ceeding, and the whole are packed into a single fascicle 

 in this manner. The crest is freely movable, and its 

 motions are subject to voluntary control. It is usually 

 carried erect, but sometimes drops forward, or oblique- 

 ly, over one eye, and occasionally is allowed to hang 

 backward, though it cannot be made to lie close over 

 the occiput. The crest sprouts when the chicks are 

 only a few days old, about the time that the first true 

 feathers appear upon the wings and tail. . . . 



"All quail are Prcccoces, as already explained, and 

 the chicks of this species are certainly precocious little 

 things, if we may judge by their actions when they are 

 disturbed. They run about as soon as they are hatched, 

 though probably not 'with half shell on their backs/ 

 as some one has said. In a few days they become very 

 nimble, and so expert in hiding that it is difficult either 

 to see or catch them. When the mother bird is sur- 

 prised with her young brood, she gives a sharp warning 

 cry that is well understood to mean danger, and then 

 generally flies a little distance to some concealed spot, 

 where she crouches, anxiously watching. The fledg- 

 lings, by an instinct that seems strange when we con- 

 sider how short a time they have had any ideas at all, 

 instantly scatter in all directions, and squat to hide as 

 soon as they think they have found a safe place, remain- 

 ing motionless until the reassuring notes of the mother 



