TH Ey sArU DU BOON Baur ia 
farm dogs, snakes, racoons, house cats and the like. From 50 
to 70 per cent of the nests are ruined, but the pair is persistent 
and will keep trying to bring off a clutch of eggs. Eventually, 
most pairs nest successfully. If the weather is too cold, wet or 
dry, production is hindered. An average of 11 to 14 eggs are 
laid, and the eggs hatch in about 23 days. In Illinois, most 
bobwhites hatch between June 15 and August 1, but pairs 
that have suffered setbacks will keep trying to nest up into 
October. Of course, chicks that are a few days old when cold 
weather begins have less chance of maturing than do chicks 
hatched in summer. 
Quail chicks are precocial: as soon as their down is dry the 
parents lead them away from the nest. Now they look like 
fuzzy brown bumblebees on stilts as they scurry around looking 
for insects. The first indication you get that you are close to a 
brood is the sight of a gravely-injured squeaking parent flopp- 
ing and fluttering around on the ground just out of reach. 
It’s not advisable to walk around looking for the chicks 
because you probably will step on some of them. The best 
thing to do is back away. I have heard the story that a newly- 
hatched chick pulls a leaf over its back when it is frightened. 
I’ve never seen this happen. Their coloring blends into the 
leaf litter and perhaps the chicks crawl under or sink into the 
leaves as soon as they hear the warning of their parents, but 
at any rate I have looked at the ground until my eyes have 
watered trying to see baby quail—and unless one moves they 
are virtually impossible to observe. If the broken wing ruse 
doesn’t draw the intruder away from the brood, one of the 
parents may give a staccato warning call, advising the young 
ones not to stir. 
Sudden rains that drench the chicks before they can reach 
the hen, and prolonged rainy spells, both may chill chicks and 
kill them. Sometimes a chick may get lost from the brood. If it 
should be lucky enough to find another bobwhite family be- 
fore it dies it will be accepted. Should one parent be killed, 
the other will raise the brood. Within two or three weeks, wing 
feathers have grown to a point where the chick can fly. By the 
seventh week, feathers have replaced the down, and an average 
chick may weigh from 2 to 2% ounces. In two months a chick 
is about half grown and a few of the males can be identified by 
their head markings. By the time the birds are 16 weeks old 
they look like mature quail and weigh from 6 to 7 ounces. 
Studies have revealed how quail may be aged by their 
wing feathers. This is a useful tool in wildlife management. 
Some states ask hunters to mail in wings which are checked 
to see how successful a breeding season the birds had. A high 
percentage of adult wings in a sample is an indication that the 
previous spring was not a productive one. 
