150 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



north to south. Its numbers are also considerably 

 increased in the autumn by arrivals from the Con- 

 tinent. It is probable that two or even three broods 

 are occasionally reared during the season. 



I have seen young birds as early as the beginning 

 of April, when snow was on the ground, and the nest- 

 lings in the case were taken as late as the 9th of July, 

 having been only hatched on the previous day. 



The male and female were shot on the Fendom, 

 near Tain, in Ross-shire, in the spring of 18G9 ; the 

 young, as stated above, being procured on the same 

 ground in July. 



WOODCOCK.— (Summer.) 



Case 187. 



The Woodcock breeds abundantly in the south of 

 England ; and there are, indeed, but few counties in 

 which the bird is not occasionally seen during the 

 summer months, though the nest itself may escape 

 observation. 



Its curious habit of carrying its young has given 

 rise to innumerable discussions in the natural history 

 columns of the sporting papers, each writer asserting 

 that the operation was performed in a different 

 manner. There is, however, but little doubt that the 

 young bird is firmly pressed between the thighs of the 

 parent, and so transported from one spot to another. 



In addition to those bred in this country, large 

 flights arrive from the north of Europe during the 

 autumn, the birds beings occasionally found in a very 

 exhausted condition. 



