The Advance

A QUAIL AND HER CHICKS.

I was out hunting one day in early summer,
writes a Companion correspondent, when suddenly a quail flew out and fluttered along ahead
of me, seemingly with a broken wing. I was
not to be led into any such belief, however, and
began looking for the nest, which I soon found,
filled to the brim with thirteen eggs. Another
step and it would have been wrecked.
As I stooped over to examine it I thought I
heard a slight noise, and upon placing my ear
close to the nest, was certain that I could detect
a faint chirp. I thought if I watched I might
see something interesting. I had not long to
wait. Suddenly a small bill was thrust through
one of the eggs. Then the shell cracked, and
with a vigorous kick and a double somersault,
out rolled what seemed to be a bunch of animated feathers, about an inch in diameter.
It looked around for a short time, as if getting
its eyes open: then all at once it awoke to the
fact that it had expected to find there something that was absent. This precocious youngster thereupon set up a very spirited chirping.
By this time three or four of its brothers and
sisters had emerged from their shells, and they
all began chirping like the first.
The mother-bird had been coming down the
trail, getting closer all the time, but when she
heard the cries of her little ones, which she had
left secure in their shells, she walked boldly up
and took possession of the nest within reach of
my arm. I moved my hand toward her, but
she would not rise, only spreading her wings
and lowering her head. Such bravery deserved
respect, and I left her undisturbed.-Youth's
Companion.