474 PHILOMELA MINOR, WOODCOCK. 



tineut are very interestiug, and should be imblislied without delay by 

 any one who is fortunate enough to observe theui. 



Of all sportsmen who habitually enjoy cock- shooting, know every 

 trick of the bird's, just where to lind them at any time, and how to 

 bring them to bag, how many have seen a nest or eggs? Yet the bird 

 breeds, in greater or less abundance, over nearly all of its range, and 

 especially in the Middle and Eastern States. One reason doubtless is, 

 that of course sportsmen are not after Woodcock in the breeding sea- 

 son ; and another, that, were they so disposed, they might search long 

 and fruitlessly for the nest, so careful are the birds, in general, to con- 

 ceal it in the most secluded resorts. It is placed in low, thick, swampy 

 woods or brakes, on the ground, at the foot of a bush or tussock, or on 

 some fallen log or decayed stump, and it is formed of a few dried leaves 

 or a little grass, just enough to keep the eggs from the cold or moist 

 ground. The Woodcock is an early layer, generally in April, but even, 

 according to Audubon, in March or February at the South — the period 

 varying a month or more according to latitude. The eggs may be rec- 

 ognized by the following description, as they are quite unlike those of 

 any of their allies, not only the coloration, but also the shape, being 

 peculiar : Instead of a pointedly pyriform egg, such as most waders 

 lay, we find a bluntly-rounded form, the diameter being comparatively 

 great for the length. The shortest and broadest egg of a dozen before 

 me measures only 1.40 by fully 1.20; a long, narrow specimen is 1.55 by 

 1.15; an average is about 1.50 by 1.15. This rotund shape corresponds 

 to the plump figure of the bird, as compared with other slenderer 

 waders. The groundcolor is a light clay, with more or less of a brown- 

 ish cast, sojnetimes quite buffy-brown, sometimes merely grayish-white. 

 The spots are mostly small and not very bold; they consist of numerous 

 chocolate-brown surface markings, with many other pale, stone-gray 

 shell spots. The size and intensity of the markings generally corre- 

 spond with the depth of the ground-color. 



As the habits of the Woodcock during the mating season are very 

 little known, the following account is copied from Audubon as one of 

 interest: "At this season its curious spiral gyrations, while ascending 

 or descending along a space of fifty or more yards of height, wiien it 

 utters a note somewhat resembling the word InvanJc, are performed every 

 evening and morning for nearly a fortnight. When on the ground, at 

 this season as well as in autumn, the male not unfrequently repeats this 

 sound, as if he were calling to others in his neighborhood, and on hear- 

 ing it answered he immediately flies to meet the other bird, which in the 

 same manner advances toward him. On observing the Woodcock while 

 in the act of emitting these notes, you would imagine he exerted him- 

 self to the utmost to produce them, the head and bill being inclined to- 

 w-ard the ground, and a strong forward movement of the body taking 

 place at the moment the hwank reaches your ear. This over, the bird 

 jerks its half spread tail, then erects itself, and stands as if listening for 

 a tew moments, when, if the cry is not answered, it repeats it. I 

 feel pretty confident that, in the spring, the female, attracted by these 

 sounds, flies to the male ; for on several occasions I observed the bird 

 that had uttered the call immediately caress the one that had just ar- 

 rived, and which I knew from its greater size to be a female. I am not, 

 how^ever, quite certain that this is always the case, for on other occa- 

 sions I have seen a male fly ofl" and alight near another, when they 

 would immediately begin to fight, tugging and pushing at each other 

 with their bills, in the most curious manner imaginable." 



The Woodcock is by no means so exclusively an inhabitant of bog 



