10 



THE OOLOGIST 



Where the Woodcock Lurks. 



"Meet me at six to-morrow morning 

 near Crow Creek. When you reach a 

 clump of Sumach follow up the ridge 

 to some heavy undergrowth, known as 

 Hazel Top. This drizzle has practi- 

 cally taken the frcst out of the ground, 

 and the Woodcoclv will be probing the 

 mellow soil along the brook- bottom. 

 Last year while scouting among this 

 undergrowth, I chanced up on an old 

 hen with four little Bog-suckers. They 

 ■were the prettiest creatures 1 ever 

 saw; probably out of the shell about 

 three days, and covered with mark 

 ings of hazel brown and chestnut. 

 Many of our birds emerge from the 

 shell naked and blind. Often they are 

 awkward and ungainly after leaving 

 the nest. I held these chicks in my hand 

 and studied them carefully for half 

 an hour, much to the discomforture 

 of the parent. She circled about drop- 

 ping into the leaves, strutting lil<^e a 

 Turkey Cock, wings drooped and bill 

 slightly open. I'm sure this pair have 

 taken up their abode in the same tract 

 this Spring, because I heard the male 

 "Circling." 



'Up the Creek where the stream 

 broadens into a slough' I shot several 

 Mallard. At dusk when I reached 

 Hazel Top, the moon was rising and 

 I listened for that nasal note so sug- 

 gestive of the Night-hawk'fe call. Pres- 

 ently 1 heard the old cock who was 

 quite a ventriloquist. After locating 

 the bush under which 1 heard him 

 "queeking," a rustle of wings predict- 

 ed an aerial flight. I walked around 

 in the soft ooze, tempted to look for 

 the mate, feeling positive she was cov- 

 ering four yellow-brown eggs on some 

 one of the many knolls. If we go 

 there tomorrow I hope to show you 

 what appears to be a ball of animated 

 leaves. Do net be surprised if I stop 

 or pause abruptly, as I'm apt to walk 



within two feet of the nest before her 

 black beads lend to that somber bed 

 of leaves a most vital appearance." 



Ralph appeared at the appointed 

 time next morning, and with a stroi:^ 

 west wind blowing against our faces, 

 we headed up the rivulet. The first 

 brush we entered, near the foot of 

 Hazel Top, had been burned since the 

 shedding of the leaves last Fall and 

 beiore the Catkins had burst forth 

 this month. Three or lour chalky 

 patches on the leaves announced the 

 presence of a Woodcock, and closer 

 scrutinizing revealed honey-combed 

 patches in the earth, showing where 

 the birds had been probing within 

 the last twenty-tour hours. "Did you 

 hear that whistle: Sounded like 

 the notes of a Cow Bird? That was 

 tne Woodcock, his short, broad 

 wings with their outer primaries turn- 

 ed, produces that quivering whistle 

 wneii using perpendicular to a height 

 Gi ten leet before taking a horizontal 

 cuuise and dropping zig-zag into an- 

 other cover. The hen is sitting furth- 

 er wesiwara in tne unburued portion; 

 the bushes heie are too exposed 

 around the base." 



I crawled through the fence to ex- 

 amine a clump of poplars and saw the 

 female, her back toward me, with 

 head and bill turned at right angles 

 to her body. She was five feet from 

 the fence post and sitting with a south 

 exposure. Never before had I "caught" 

 one on the nest, sitting at "right an- 

 gles." If this madam had turned her 

 head to look, it was before I saw her, 

 and she remained in what appeared to 

 be a very cramped position for fif- 

 teen minutes. Ralph stooped to stroke 

 that velvet like back before she vacat- 

 ed her nest. 1 never saw such an ir- 

 regularly marked clutch. If I were 

 to send them to some correspondent 

 he might accuse me of "making up a 



