612 Unusual Individual of the Woodcock, 



the case in other parts of the country, and is known to sports- 

 men. — W. T. Bree, in a Letter dated Allesley Rectory, near 

 Coventry, Oct 7. 1833. 



The Woodcock occasionally Breeds in Britain. (I. 83., VIII. 

 612.) — A woodcock's nest was found in Worcestershire in 

 1811. I forget the number of eggs, but two young ones, 

 well stuffed, I saw in the possession of a shoemaker, who 

 preserved specimens of [objects of] natural history for sale. 



— Lansdown Guilding. May 1. 1830. [Montagu has re- 

 marked, see his Orn. Diet., Rennie's edit., that many instances 

 of the woodcock's breeding in Britain are recorded. Two 

 others are now added here.] 



[Early ? Time of the Year for the Occurrence of a Nest of 

 Young Woodcocks in Britain."] — I find that it was on April 1. 

 this year [1834], that Mr. Palliser found, at our place, Sea- 

 cocks Heath, Hawkhurst [Kent], a woodcock's nest with 

 four young ones. The nest was in an open part of our wood, 

 upon the ground, and was composed of dry leaves and grass. 

 We tried to rear one of the young ones, but it died after two 

 days. In the same month, 



A Snipe was constantly lying in the rushes of one of our 

 ponds, but we could not find its nest. — F. Palliser [Staying 

 at] Wimbledon House, Surrey, May 30. 1834. [On the 

 woodcock, see also II. 146.; V. 502, 503. 570. 725, 726.] 



On May 28. a woodcock's nest was found, with eight fully 

 fledged young woodcocks in it, on the shore of Loch Lomond, 

 near Belloch Castle. {The Oxford Herald, June 13. 1829.) 

 The woodcock's eggs are generally four. (Montagu, as ad- 

 duced in Rennie's Mont. Orn. Diet., p. 560.) 



A Notice of an Unusual Individual of the Common Woodcock 

 (Scolopax rusticola L.), or of an Individual of a Distinct Species. 



— On about Dec. 10. 1832, I went into Cornwall, and, whilst 

 staying at Trebartha Hall, the seat of F. H. Rodd, Esq., 

 went out woodcock shooting. It happens that this place is 

 one of the best places for woodcocks in the county ; conse- 

 quently the keeper, who is a very intelligent man, must be 

 supposed to know something on the subject, from having seen 

 so many killed. We flushed one and killed it ; but, when we 

 came to pick it up, we found that, although it was perfectly 

 formed and feathered, it was but of half the size of the com- 

 mon woodcock. The colour was the same. The usual weight 

 of a woodcock is, I believe, from 12oz. to 1 4 oz. : this 

 weighed 5£ oz. The keeper said that he had not hitherto 

 recognised more than one species, differing in plumage ac- 

 cording to the sex, and that some have the outermost feather 

 of the wing white ; others have it of a mottled brown, the 



