NOTES 95 



Woodcock and the Safety of their Young. In reference 

 to Mr W. Evans's remarks on " Woodcock and the Safety of their 

 Young," it may be of interest to record a somewhat similar experi- 

 ence. On 14th June 19 18, I flushed a Woodcock from some bracken 

 in an open space among the rhododendrons growing near the top 

 of an exposed rocky hill. She began to fly straight away from 

 me up wind, but on meeting the full force of the blast as she rose, 

 she turned and came back close past me, and I was able to see 

 that she was carrying a small young one. Her flight was laboured 

 and unusual, and her tail much depressed, so that her position in 

 the air recalled that of a wasp when carrying a fly. The wind was 

 strong and she quickly dipped over the rock or cliff a little way 

 behind me. On going back and cautiously looking over the edge 

 I saw her standing on a sort of ledge not far off and rather below 

 me, but facing my way up wind and I could also see the young 

 one crouched at her feet between her legs. As soon as she 

 caught sight of me, she bent her neck and pushed the young 

 one securely into position with her bill, raising her wings as 

 she did so, and flew off out of sight down, among the trees below. 

 On going back to the place where I first saw her, I soon came 

 upon three other young birds, apparently hatched two or three 

 days previously, so I sat down to see if the old bird would come 

 back to them. And this she soon did, settling some distance off 

 and running in an anxious fussy way in and out through the 

 brackens, trailing her wings. It was most difficult to keep her in 

 sight and under continuous observation, and she detected my 

 movements in trying to do so. Whereupon she rose and flew 

 off, but holding her body and tail in exactly the same position 

 as when she was carrying a young bird ; and when she topped the 

 bushes and began to dive down the hillside, I could see that her 

 legs and feet were hanging down. I shifted my position and kept 

 watch till she came again, and then exactly the same thing 

 happened as before she spotted me and went off with the same 

 flight, before she got up to where the chicks were squeaking. 

 So I came away disappointed at not having seen her either bring 

 back the first youngster or remove another. The young bird was 

 carried close to the old one's body and well concealed by the 

 lowered tail. In fact, from behind it would not have been possible 

 to see it at all, and it was only when the old bird flew past me, 

 or was facing towards me, that I could tell that a young one was 

 being carried. And the fact that the same unusual manner of 

 flight was adopted, when a chick was not being carried, might 

 easily deceive one on the look-out for such a performance. I do 



