Marking of Woodcock in Northumberland 245 



MARKING OF WOODCOCK IN 

 NORTHUMBERLAND. 



Hulne Abbey, Alnwick. 



June 8, igio. 

 Sir, — In reply to your letter re marking of birds, I beg 

 to say that the woodcock is the only bird that we mark, 

 which we have done since 1891. I have records of our 

 birds having been shot in England — several counties — 

 Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Also one in France. I 

 am sending you on Shooting Times of May 21, in which 

 you will find an article on our marking, as follows. If 

 you wish I can forward on my book, in which I keep a 

 record of all marked birds, and where shot. 



Yours obediently, 



W. MEECH. 

 W. Halliday, Esq. 



A RECENT note in the Shooting Times makes 

 reference to the nesting of woodcock in many 

 parts of Great Britain, and a query which 

 happens to bear on exactly the same subject is sent by a 

 correspondent, whose letter was published in the same 

 issue. This letter has already been answered, the inquirer 

 being informed that the woodcock shot by his friend un- 

 doubtedly was one of those marked by the keepers on 

 the Duke of Northumberland's estate at Alnwick. Pro- 

 bably there are a good many readers of this paper who 

 would like to hear more as to these experiments with the 

 woodcock bred at Alnwick, the marking of which is carried 

 out in order to discover as far as possible the movements 

 of the British-bred 'cock. 



As stated in the note referred to above, there is, of 

 course, no longer any doubt as to the more or less common 

 occurrence of the woodcock as a breeding species in these 

 islands, but very little so far has been discovered as to 

 what becomes of these birds, for, although there would 

 seem to be no longer any diminution in the number of 



