The Woodcock 239 



ber of sceptics still exist. Mr Maclnroy has come for- 

 ward and unequivocally stated that the nesting of wood- 

 cock in Scotland is quite common. Twenty-nine years 

 ago he found the first nest, and as the years pass by such 

 nests are encountered in ever-increasing numbers. For 

 carrying out its domestic plans, the bird favours certain 

 districts and avoids others. Many people believe that the 

 woodcock produces two broods in the season, but on this 

 point there is really no conclusive evidence. Unfledged 

 birds have been found as early as the middle of April and 

 as late as the end of August, but these irregularities may 

 be accounted for in various ways. Young birds are often 

 shot whenever the grouse season opens. Certain 

 ' ' sportsmen " nave been known to make really large bags 

 of young cock even on tne Twelfth. Although the law 

 permits the killing of the birds from the first day of 

 August, it is a well-known fact that they are unfit either 

 for shooting or eating urtil October. No true sportsman 

 will endeavour to bag them earlier. If the birds are to 

 be accorded an opportunity of gaining a firm foothold as 

 re c idents in this country the season for shooting them 

 must be limited by law, and should begin, as in the case 

 of the pheasant on 1st October, and terminate on 1st 

 February. I may remind sportsmen that on the Duke of 

 Northumberlana's estate of Hulme Abbey, Alnwick, 

 woodcock have been marked every year since 1891 and 

 a careful record is kept of all the marked birds afterwards 

 discovered and shot. 



Until recent years it was a common delusion that long 

 billed birds, such as woodcock and snipe, lived by suction 

 alone, though most upholders of this view would have 

 found themselves at a loss if asked to explain how this 

 could possibly be the case. What nourishment could be 

 drawn from the ground by this means is hard to imagine, 

 but the idea prevailed, and, though long since exploded, 

 is not infrequently stated by ignorant people who wish to 

 pose as ornithologists at the present day. It was pos- 

 sibly fostered by the uncertainty surrounding the move- 

 ments and habits of these species, for in the rustic 

 imagination "these 'ere foreigners" are credited with 

 powers of which no resident species can boast. 



