GAMBEL'S QUAIL 



99 



call them together again with an intimation that the 

 alarm is over. Then they huddle close around her, and 

 she carefully leads them off to some other spot where 

 she looks for greater security in the enjoyment of her 

 hopes and pleasing cares. As long as they require the 

 parents' attention they keep close together, and are 

 averse to flying. Even after becoming able to use their 

 wings well they prefer to run and hide, or squat where 

 they may be, when alarmed. If then forced up, the 

 young covey flies off, without spreading, to a little dis- 

 tance, often realighting on the lower limbs of trees or 

 in bushes, rather than on the ground. As they grow 

 older and stronger of wing they fly further, separate 

 more readily, and more rarely take to trees ; and some 

 time before they are full grown they are found to have 

 already become wary and difficult of approach. As 

 one draws near where a covey is feeding, a quick, sharp 

 cry from the bird who first notices the approach, alarms 

 the whole, and is quickly repeated by the rest as they 

 start to run, betraying their course by the rustling of 

 dry leaves. Let him step nearer, and they rise with 

 a whirr, scattering in every direction. 



"Newly hatched birds may be found all summer, and 

 incubation goes on from, say, early in May until the 

 middle of August. Not that any single pair are en- 

 gaged so long, but that different broods may be hatched 

 during all this time. A greater number of old birds 

 pair in April, and hatch their first brood some time 

 during the following month. Most of them doubtless 

 raise another. Others appear to defer incubation for 



