242 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



drives them further west to the coast-line and to the 

 Emerald Isle. 



Other flights have frequently been noticed during 

 February on the west coast of Scotland, and these pro- 

 bably consist of birds returning from Ireland, which rest 

 for a short period in Raasay, Skye, and elsewhere before 

 finally crossing Scotland en route for their Norwegian 

 home. 



Woodcock, as already remarked, feed by night, and the 

 state of the weather at daybreak offers a sure guide as to 

 where they will be found during the following day, for, 

 except during severe frost, they seldom feed during day- 

 light, being, like others of their congeners, of a shy and 

 retiring nature. Thus, after a stormy morning 'cock may 

 be sought in the shelter of burns, pine and birch woods, 

 and, generally speaking, in the hollows below the wind. 

 If the days has dawned quiet and peaceful, they may be 

 seen anywhere in the open or in the shelter, wherever the 

 fancy of each individual bird has led it after its meal. 

 After a light night, 'cock sit close, having gorged them- 

 selves to such an extent that they may sometimes be 

 caught by dogs or with the naked hand. After a stormy 

 night they are wild, unsettled, rising like a snipe, and zig- 

 zagging away with an uncertain and puzzling flight, while 

 on other occasions they rise with slowly moving wings, 

 flying like an owl when bewildered by the light of day. 

 The large eyes of woodcock are sufficient to betray its 

 night-feeding propensities, and it is this bright organ 

 alone which enables the observer to locate the hen when 

 sitting on her nest in dry leaves or dead bracken, which 

 precisely match the colours of her plumage. 



Generally speaking, woodcock lie facing the sun, and 

 thick heather slopes, with a few birches scattered here and 

 there, are favoured in such localities where food is plenti- 

 ful in the neighbourhood. It stands to reason that a 

 woodcock is unwilling to travel far after a full meal, just as 

 so many human bipeds prefer the comfort of an armchair 

 after dinner to a long cross-country walk. Hence they 

 are often found near the feeding-grounds, even when frost 

 has not driven them to the neighbourhood of water, al- 



