The Quail 23 



and louder and will get madder and madder and 

 will draw nearer and nearer until he is perhaps 

 only a few yards distant and full of fight. Then 

 let the whistler utter a defiant " Bob-white," and 

 suddenly change to a low, tender Ka-loi-hee and 

 note the effect upon Bob. In an instant he is a 

 fussing, fuming, irresponsible small devil, racing 

 here and there with dragging wings, and so ex- 

 cited that he can hardly sputter out his challenges, 

 A repetition of the Ka-loi-hee may bring him 

 booming on reckless wings almost into the 

 observer's face. Now, if this Ka-loi-hee be not a 

 hen's call, and a suggestion to him that his hen is 

 playing tricks with a stranger — " what's he fussin' 

 about.''" The quail utters other sounds. While 

 feeding it may be heard to twitter in a low, satis- 

 fied sort of way. A winged bird running, or an un- 

 injured one running from under brush, preparatory 

 to taking wing, frequently voices a musical tick- 

 tick-tick-a-voy. A bird closely chased by a hawk 

 emits a sharp cackling, expressive of extreme terror. 

 Quite frequently a bevy just before taking wing 

 passes round a low, purring note — presumably a 

 warning to spring all together? When the hen is 

 calling to scattered young, she sometimes varies 

 the cry to an abrupt Ko-lang, after which she re- 

 mains silent for some time. This the writer 

 believes to be a hint to the young to cease calling 

 — that the danger still threatens, and is prompted 



