no The Irish Naturalist. [May, 



its former area too restricted, and so simply bowed to necessity 

 in extending its range westward. The newer immigrant is, 

 at any rate, much more welcome than its precursor. 



One of the most interesting facts in the nesting economy 

 of the Woodcock is its habit of carrying its young. On this 

 subject much has been written since Gilbert White cast 

 doubts on Scopoli's statement, " fugiens ab hoste pullos rostro 

 portat : " observing that the bill of the Woodcock seemed 

 singularly ill-adapted for such an exploit. Later witnesses to 

 the fact of the bird actually carrying its young have, in the 

 majority of instances, said that this was done with the feet or 

 legs, 1 but a glance at the most recent text-books shows that 

 the exact method is, at any rate, still far from settled. Mr. 

 A. H. Evans, in the Cambridge Natural History series, says 

 "The young are often carried by the parents between the 

 thighs, the bill probably aiding to steady them." Mr. Aflalo, 

 in his " Natural History of the British Islands," aiso says 

 " Between the legs, and pressed with the bill, [is, I believe, 

 the usual manner." These writers, however, differ from the 

 conclusion arrived at by Mr. Harting {Zoologist, 1879, p. 440), 

 that in the majority of instances the bill is not used at all. 



It is noteworthy that Thompson on this subject quotes a 

 gamekeeper who believed the whole story to be due to optical 

 delusion, produced by the drooping of the tail and ventral 

 feathers as the bird flew. Though Thompson does not 

 expressly adopt this view, he evidently attached some 

 importance to it, and it is possible that scepticism on the 

 subject, encouraged by such an interpretation of the evidence, 

 may be yet not wholly extinct. Among the witnesses to the 

 fact are, however, some few naturalists of well-known accuracy, 

 including Mr. H. C. Hart. 2 



I once witnessed the spectacle myself, under circumstances 

 which lead me to think that there should be no difficulty in 

 collecting a much greater mass of evidence on the subject 

 than yet exists. 



In the spring of last year I was shown a Woodcock's nest 

 which had been found by a little boy in the woods at Bally- 



1 For an account of the different methods of transport ascribed to the 

 bird, see an article by Mr. Harting in the Zoologist for 1879, pp. 433-440. 



2 Zoologist, 1888, p. 454. 



