AMERICAN WOODCOCK 67 



ground, and was in the middle of an open place in tall marsh grass, while 

 the first was neatly cupped and lined with the above-mentioned vegetable 

 down. 



Another singular habit of the woodcock that I have never seen noted is 

 that of both birds setting upon the nest in wet or cold weather. In doing 

 this they huddle very close together and face in opposite directions, and I have 

 always noted that they have their heads thrown back and their bills elevated 

 to an angle of about forty-five degrees. 



Mr. Nichols writes to me : 



On Long Island there is a favorite nesting station for woodcock, where the 

 woodland gives place to broad fields, separated by narrow stands of big trees 

 with a sparse tangled undergrowth of shrubbery and catbriar, and where here 

 and there a short fresh-water creek extends inland from the not distant bay. 



Several writers have stated or implied that the woodcock raises 

 two broods in a season. This would be an exception to the rule 

 among waders. I believe that it normally nests early and that the 

 late nests are merely second attempts at raising a brood, where the 

 first nest has been destroyed. 



An interesting case of nest-protecting display is thus described by 

 Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy (1926) : 



She (assuming that it was the female) would allow us to come within a 

 r'ew feet before leaving her well-concealed position. Then she would spring 

 from the nest, pitch on the ground close by, and, standing with the tail toward 

 us, would raise and spread it so as to show to full advantage the double row 

 of glistening white spots at the ends of the rectrices and under coverts. Next, 

 Hashing this striking banner slowly, she would move off among the trees in 

 the attitude of a strutting turkey cock, stopping when we refused to follow, 

 and then tripping ahead for a few steps, all the while bleating softly. The 

 effect was astonishing ; the ordinary low visibility of a woodcock against the 

 forest floor no longer held, for the spotted fan of the tail had become a most 

 conspicuous and arresting mark. 



Eggs. — The American woodcock lays four eggs, sometimes only 

 three, and rarely five. They vary in shape from ovate to rounded 

 ovate and have a moderate gloss. The ordinary ground colors vary 

 from " pinkish buff " to " cartridge buff " and in certain brown types 

 from " pinkish buff " to " cinnamon." They are usually rather 

 sparingly and more or less evenly marked with small spots, but some- 

 times these spots are concentrated about the larger end. In the 

 lighter types, which are the most common, there are often many 

 large blotches of light shades of " vinaceous drab " or " brownish 

 drab"; these are conspicuous and often predominate. Mixed with 

 them are numerous small spots of light browns, "cinnamon," "clay 

 color," or "tawny olive." In the brown types these spots are in 

 richer browns, "hazel," "russet," or "cinnamon brown," with the 

 drab spots less conspicuous. The measurements of 53 eggs, in the 

 United States National Museum, average 38 by 29 millimeters; the 



