52 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



wings, and began moving her legs in an agitated manner. 

 This lasted for only four or five seconds, when she rose, and 

 in the same laboured fashion flew on another thirty or so 

 yards, again dropping to the ground and repeating the same 

 manoeuvres. On rising this time she flew off in ordinary 

 Woodcock style, and was soon out of sight among the trees. 

 I had glasses with me, but there was no time to get them 

 into use, and in any case I could not risk taking my eyes 

 off the bird even for a second. Immediately she had 

 disappeared I hastened to the spots where she had alighted, 

 taking the farther one first, to ascertain if a young bird had 

 been dropped, but no trace of one could be found. Returning 

 to the place where she originally got up, I soon discovered a 

 few-days-old youngster squatting on the ground. The thought 

 at once occurred to me that perhaps its mother would return 

 and bear it away if I were out of sight. I therefore con- 

 cealed myself beneath a shelter of fir branches from which a 

 not too distant watch could be kept on the place ; but again, 

 though I remained in hiding for over half an hour, I had no 

 success. 



The impression conveyed to my mind by this bird's 

 appearance and actions was such that at the time I felt sure 

 she must be carrying a young one. But when I came to 

 think the matter over, I realised that there was no proof; 

 I could not say that I had seen the young one, though 

 appearances suggested its presence. Perhaps this was only 

 one of those cases in which the observer is deceived by the 

 parent bird's "antics" (a "ruse" some would call it) to draw 

 off his attention from her chicks. Naturally one would have 

 welcomed an early opportunity of testing the point, but none 

 presented itself that year. 



In the beginning of May 191 2 (a visit to Saltoun in April 

 had been unproductive), and again in May 191 3, I visited 

 the Tyninghame woods, also in East Lothian, and under the 

 guidance of Mr Thomson, the headkeeper, succeeded in 

 finding four Woodcocks with broods. What happened in 

 each instance is told below. A further case on 2nd May 

 1914 presented no new features. 



On 4th May 191 2 Thomson took me to investigate two 



