Get cold feet in game (5)
I believe the answer is:
quail
'game' is the definition.
(I know that quail is a type of phasianid)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for quail that I've seen before include "recoil with fear" , "Show fear - of small game bird?" , "Flinch from small gamebird?" , "Flinch like gamebird" , "Small bird of the partridge family" .)