In spring, males begin courtship display. They sing, bow low, elevate their fanned-out tails, spread their wings, puff out their body plumage, strut and fight. The female simply scratches a depression in the soil and lines it with dead grass. Weeds may grow over the nest and conceal it. The breeding season stretches from May to August, and two broods may be raised.
Incubation is by both sexes but mostly by the female, beginning after the last egg is laid.
If threatened, a brooding bird may flutter along the ground, feigning a broken wing and trying to lure the intruder away from the nest. Should one member of a pair die after eggs are laid, its mate will brood the clutch and rear the young. After 23 days, chicks hatch. They're precocial, able to run about and feed themselves soon after they dry, and they usually leave the nest the day they hatch. Chicks are fuzzy, buff beneath and mottled chestnut brown above, with a dark streak extending back from each eye.