68 BRITAIxN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



THE WOODCOCK 



(Scolopax rusticula). 

 Plate 23. 



The Woodcock is a near ally of the Snipe, and has the 

 same long, straight bill. It is, however, noticeable among 

 Waders for its lack of the usual grace of form ; the legs 

 are rather short, and the whole body may be described as 

 ' dumpy.' No bird, however, is more esteemed for the 

 table or for the sport which it affords. 



As its name implies, this species inhabits woods and 

 plantations, but it prefers those of an open character. 

 Owing to the increase of plantations of late years the 

 number of British-breeding Woodcocks has become much 

 greater, but is still insignificant in comparison with the 

 great ' flights ' that arrive from overseas during the 

 October nights, and remain with us till early March. 

 Some of the spring migrants are still passing through 

 the country when our own Woodcocks are nesting. 



As a breeding bird it is distributed over the greater 

 part of the British Isles. The nest is a mere depression 

 in the ground with a slight lining of dead leaves, and is 

 frequently close to the base of a tree. Laying begins 

 early, often by the middle of March, and to find eggs 

 when there is snow on the gromid is a common occur- 

 rence. The four glossy eggs are less pyriform than is 

 typical of Waders, and are yellowish in ground-colour, 

 with gray under-markings and bold blotches in two shades 

 of reddish brown. Against a background of dead leaves 

 the sitting bird and the exposed eggs are alike nearly 

 invisible. We have, however, seen a clutch of pure white 

 eggs — rather a rare occurrence — and the conspicuousness 



