94 The IrisJi Xatiivalist. June, 



fifty birds were marked each year. On looking over the first 

 table in the article the most striking fact is the large number 

 of birds which have been recovered on the estate, the actual 

 number being 48 out of a total of 55 birds recovered, and of 

 these no fewer than 33 were obtained in the immediate 

 vicinity of the breeding ground. Of the seven birds obtained 

 in other situations 3 were shot within a radius of 10 miles 

 in a southerly direction. 



One was shot at Castlederg, County Mayo, which is about 

 40 miles to the south-west. One was noticed in the market- 

 place of Bilbao having been shot at Morgo, Province of 

 Biscay, Spain, within six months of being marked, the distance 

 in a direct line being about 800 miles, this is, I think, the most 

 interesting of the recoveries, and it shows that there is a 

 tendency for the northern-bred birds to migrate south during 

 the winter, but I think we must come to the conclusion from 

 these observations that Woodcock bred in temperate climates 

 like our own do not as a general rule leave them during the 

 winter. The birds, which come in great rushes to this 

 country, as well as to other European countries, during hard 

 winters are, I believe, birds bred in northern Europe, and are 

 driven south by the fearful severity of the weather and want 

 of food. 



A curious point was brought out with regard to the weight 

 of Woodcock. On two occasions when a considerable number 

 of ringed birds had been taken and the weight of these nine 

 marked birds had been carefully compared with the eight 

 unmarked birds obtained on the same day, the average 

 weight of the nine ringed birds was 11.97 ozs. and the average 

 weight of the eight unringed birds was 11. 3 ozs. Again, 

 on January 15th, 1917, eight ringed birds averaged 12.7 

 ozs., and 16 unringed birds averaged 12.3 ozs. The following 

 day 31 unringed birds gave the average weight of 12. i ozs. 

 From this observation we would conclude that the birds bred 

 at the estate were much better led than those which came in 

 from northern regions, and which had probably been driven 

 south by want of food. 



The data collected in this paper points to there being 

 three classes of M'oodcock in this part of the west of Ireland, 

 namely : — 



