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Idylls of bird life 
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dom if even seen during this period; she being busily engaged 
Rf „/'■ • # v 
with her eggs and scarcely finding the time to snatch a few 
mouthfuls of food. Her consort covers the nest during her 
absence. 
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One morning just as Aurora was casting her spell upon the 
earth, I stole out to see how Mr. and Mrs. Bob White and the 
nest'full'of eggs were faring. As I was crossing the road that 
fe'M leads up to the corn field in which their home was located, I 
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saW the birds leading a flock of downy little ones into a wood 
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patch on the other side of the road. I counted twelve chicks, 
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as they scampered for safety under leaves and other available 
hiding places at my approach. 
It was very interesting watching this brood of Bob Whites 
follow their mother about, for in this they are precisely the 
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same as young chicks in charge of the mother hen. They soon 
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learned what berries, cereals, seeds and grasses they must eat. 
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The parent birds are untiring in their efforts to protect their 
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3^oung. The mother bird on the approach of an enemy, will 
utter a shrill warning “wee-teek!” and, while all the youngsters 
are scampering for a place of safety, she feigns lameness or re- 
7/ 
sorts to some other artifice in her endeavors to lead the enemy 
in another direction. 
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