340 Hon. T. L. Powys on Birds 



169. Woodcock. {Scolopax rusticola.) 



So much has been said and written concerning the abundance 

 of this species in these countries, that it is unnecessary for me to 

 add to the mass of information ah"eady in print on the subject ; 

 but a few words on my own experience may not be out of place 

 here. That part of the mainland which lies opposite to the 

 island of Corfu, and which is usually called Albania, is, properly 

 speaking, Epirus, of which Joannina is the capital, Albania 

 proper being the contiguous province to the north. The country 

 near the coast consists for the most part of rocky hills of mode- 

 rate elevation, thickly overgrown in most places with long grass, 

 and various species of evergreen scrub and thorn bushes. The 

 valleys are marshy, cultivated in some parts, and in others more 

 or less covered with woods of alder, poplar, oak, plane, sycamore, 

 willow, &c., and in many places a thick undergrowth of black- 

 thorn, briars, sedge, reeds, &c. ; the fields are also dotted with 

 patches of tamarisk, thorn, and briars, and intersected by nume- 

 rous small streams. The Woodcocks generally begin to arrive 

 about the 10th of November, then* numbers depending on the 

 state of the weather, and in a good season are to be found in 

 abundance fx'om that time till the 15th of March. I arrived at 

 Corfu on the 24th of December, 1856 ; the weather was then, 

 and had been for some weeks, very stormy and unsettled ; heavy 

 rains had turned the valleys into lakes, and everyone told us 

 that Woodcocks were not to be found. For some days the 

 weather was so bad that it was useless to attempt an expedition to 

 the mainland, and we contented ourselves with wandering about 

 the beautiful arbutus-coverts of the island, occasionally finding 

 a Snipe or two in the low grounds, and hearing of, but very 

 seldom seeing, a Woodcock. At last we could stand it no longer, 

 but sailed about one a.m., on the 5th of January, from Corfu, and 

 on awaking about seven a.m. found ourselves snugly at anchor 

 in the well-known bay of Butrinto. We went ashore, and waded 

 through about two miles of thorn-covert, and had what appeared 

 to me very fair sport, till the rain came down in torrents, and 

 drove us back to our yacht. We were three guns, and our bag at 

 one P.M. contained 21 Woodcocks, 2 Snipes, 1 Water Rail, 1 

 Little Gull, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier, 3 Sparrow- 



