404 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



labor with their wings, as they heavily flutter up, they as often 

 fly ofl" silently like an owl, stealing along close to the ground. 

 They are usually found too upon very dry land holding no 

 scent, where they come merel}' to rest, and upon which they 

 have dropped without running about. If disturbed, however, 

 they occasionally steal away from the dog on foot, running 

 over the parched ground, and thus elude him altogether, or get 

 up out of shot or unperceived. On this account, a pursuit of 

 them at this time is unsatisfactory, requiring for a good bag 

 hard fagging, thorough knowledge of the ground, great obser- 

 vation and vigilance. 



In September, the "Woodcock are again in better condition. 

 The}^ are now less capricious, and are more easily found, fre- 

 quenting, for the most part, drier grounds. In October, the 

 birds are not only in prime condition, but they afford to sports- 

 men the most enjoyable and eagerly sought-for shooting. They 

 are found again in localities which may easily be ascertained. 

 The sportsman may always hope for the abundant sport which 

 follows a flight, for it is in October that those remarkable 

 movements of the birds occur. There is in flight-time an un- 

 certainty as to when and where the birds may be found, which 

 gives in the highest degree that element of chance, without 

 which the sportsman's life would lose half its charm. Every 

 one must form his own theories from his own experience and 

 knowledge of the grounds, but certain it is that sometimes the 

 lucky or sagacious sportsman may reach a spot in which the 

 birds are almost literally swarming. Suddenly and inexplicably 

 the cover becomes full of them ; then as mysteriously it be- 

 comes vacant. One would suppose that bii'ds apparently so 

 feeble on the wing must perform these long journeys by short 

 stages ; but, though the Woodcock undoubtedly travel about 

 much more actively than is commonly supposed from one part 

 of a district to another, so that there are often local flights, 

 yet it is well known that they very often appear simultaneously 

 over wide areas. The writer himself has seen one in the gray 

 of morning, a mile or two from land on the open ocean, flying 

 in as if from sea. This bird was solitary, but in the afternoon 



