IDYLLS OF BIRD LIFE 
I quietly withdrew without flushing them, happy that I was 
able to provide food and shelter for such beautiful birds, which 
are without a doubt the noblest of all game varieties. 
Every day or two throughout the long Winter months I fed 
the birds, and within several weeks’ time I had succeeded in 
—t 
w. 
greatly diminishing their fear of me; I could approach within 
tjjYfSet without disturbing them. The Bob White has refused 
to become domesticated, yet, a firm friendship may be estab¬ 
lished with him by adopting the methods I have related. 
Although that Winter lingered long and wearily, it was 
finally obliged to succumb to the pleasant sunshine and the 
south winds that came with the approach of mid-April. On a 
o 
bright afternoon of that month I had an opportunity to get away l!l 
from other labors, and I went out to find my bevy of Bob 
■ j ( - 
Whites. As I came in sight of the familiar fields of stubble and 
meadow, the clarion-like notes, “Bob White! ah, Bob White! 
welled from a half-score of throats, emanating from the woods V 
( • 
to the left, the wheat on the right, and the corn just beyond£T-._. 
The family had evidently separated, as is customary' when the 
-' t -r " . . 
mating season begins; no doubt some of the y r oung birds were «— 
thinking of going to housekeeping on their own responsibilit 
T T . [54] 
