IDYLLS OF BIRD LIFE 
to go violet gathering. We took the one o’clock car out of town, 
and arrived at our destination, a beautiful spot, an hour later. 
We knew where these dainty blossoms were very plentiful, and 
here we hastened our youthful steps. Soon we were reveling 
in the midst of a patch of blue violets, which seemed almost an 
acre in extent. We were coming over from the car whenT heard 
1 
the plaintive whistle of a quail in the nearby stubble. It was the, -y ' 
nesting season of the quail or Bob White. I slipped away from 
the crowd, lost all interest in the violet expedition, and 
toward the stubble from whence I heard the call. I jumped an 
old snake fence, the abode of thousands of insects, and : §kirtb 
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it down to where I heard the call. Here a tiny babbling brda t k 
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threaded its silver course and was lost in the woods beyon 
carried a stout stick, which I used to poke with among the 
M 
grasses. Directly across the brook in a spot shaded by a giant 
hickory, a whir reached my ears, and I saw a quail go whirling 
through the trees. Then it did not take me long to find the nest, 
which was on the ground in a corner of the fence, roughly 
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arched, and made of grasses, leaves, wood, weeds and straw, t>&. 
carelessly put together. This loosely compiled nest contained 
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sixteen of the most beautiful pure white eggs, about a day old, \ 
and I became elated over my find. I again marked the place, 
[ 39 ] 
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\|i *j>vir^vik. y!im 1 {k/Jlft 
