THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 



When one stumbles on the nest of a Quail, Meadow- 

 lark, or Oven-bird, it is well not to approach it 

 closely, because all over the country many night- 

 prowling animals have the habit of following by 

 scent the footsteps of any one who has lately gone 

 along through the woods or across the fields. One 

 afternoon by the rarest chance 1 found three Quails' 

 nests containing eggs. The next morning I took out 

 a friend to share the pleasure of my discoveries. We 

 found every nest destroyed and the eggs eaten. 

 My trail the evening before lay through cultivated 

 fields, and it was thus easy for us to find in the soft 

 ground the tracks of the fox or small dog that, 

 during the night, had followed the trail with calami- 

 tous results to the birds. When finding the nests 

 1 had made the mistake of going to within a few 

 inches of them. Had I stopped six feet away the 

 despoiler that followed probably never would have 

 known there was a nest near, for unless a dog ap- 

 proaches within a very few feet of a brooding Quail 



it seems not to possess the power of smelling it. 

 [6] 



