JOURNAL OP MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



41 



matter is also eaten, chiefly uniden- 

 tifiable plant seeds. 



The illustration presented in con- 

 nection with this article is of the nest 

 and eggs taken at Orono Bog, June 

 4, 1892 and fully described in connec- 

 tion with this article. 



O. W. KNIGHT. 



THE WOODCOCK. 



[Read before the Maine Ornithological Society at 

 Gardiner, Mar. 29th, 1903,] 



I suppose my friend Powers picked 

 me to tell you something about the 

 woodcock because I have shot many 

 of these birds, and always see more 

 or less of them every season. Dr. 

 Coues says: "This is the game bird 

 after all, say what you please of 

 snipe, quail, or grouse." I agree 

 with the Doctor, and would add that 

 I think it the best bird for the table 

 that we have. 



The Woodcock comes to this State 

 very early. I remember of having 

 one brought to me on the 10th of 

 March. This bird had flown against a 

 telegraph wire and was killed. I 

 have seen a number that have been 

 killed in this way, and remember of 

 seeing one fly against the telephone 

 wires in my own yard, but this one 

 recovered and went its way. 



I remember well some years ago 

 that I was walking in the woods and 

 found a Woodcock's nest. It was 

 near a bunch of alders on the edge of 

 a swamp. I nearly stepped on the 

 bird, or would never have seen it. 

 The nest was made with very little 

 work, only a few dry leaves being 

 collected for its structure. There 

 were four eggs in it, the color of 

 which was drab with an olive tint and 

 marked quite thickly with light and 

 dark brown blotches. The bird was 

 very tame. I went to the nest the 

 second time and got to within a few 

 feet of the bird before she left. La- 

 ter with my Grandfather we started 

 the old bird. She had much trouble 

 in rising and was carrying something 

 in her beak or feet. We thought it 

 must be one of the young birds. I 

 had never heard at that time that the 

 parents would take their young from 

 place to place, but have since seen 

 accounts of their doing so. 



I know very little of the Woodcock 

 during the summer months. The first 

 of September often the birds are not 



done moulting. We then find them 

 in secluded places. Later on they 

 work back into the covers. This 

 gradual coming back leads many 

 sportsmen to say that the flight has 

 begun, which sometimes is reported 

 as early as Sept. 20th. Now I think 

 this is a mistake. I do not think that 

 the birds begin to migrate much be- 

 fore Oct. 10th, and this depends much 

 on the weather North. The best 

 shooting I ever had was Oct. 19th, 

 some ten years ago. It was late in 

 the forenoon when we got into the 

 covers. There were birds every- 

 where. We shot 18 Woodcock that 

 day and started many more. I re- 

 member distinctly the day was dark 

 and damp. It cleared that night and 

 was cold. We were out the 18th and 

 found a very few birds, and again on 

 the 20th with the same result as the 

 18th. This shows to me that some- 

 times they come in quantities in a 

 single night, and leave as quickly, 

 but generally they come a few at a 

 time and drop into the covers, and if 

 good feed is found they stop some 

 days, and then go on as the season 

 advances. The main flight is over 

 by Nov. 1st, but I have had good 

 shooting, Nov. 7th. I got seven birds 

 this year on that date. I have heard 

 of their being seen as late as Nov. 

 26th, but Nov. 13th is the latest I 

 have ever seen one. My experience 

 of hunting these birds in the last 20 

 years is that they nearly always oc- 

 cupy the same places in the covers, 

 for instance there will be a knoll here 

 and a wet hole there where they are 

 likely to be found, and if not in these 

 places it is of little use to hunt in this 

 cover for them. It has never been 

 my experience to often flnd more 

 than one or two birds in a place, but 

 on one occasion I saw three get up 

 ahead of my dog at once, that was 

 this year when I was shooting in 

 Litchfield. 



While this bird is an easy bird to 

 hunt with a dog he is very wary after 

 being started a few times, and know 

 as well how to get under cover as any 

 bird I know. I think these birds 

 come back to the same covers year 

 after year. 



I went out of my way a quarter of 

 a mile this season to see if there was 

 a bird where I left one last year, my 

 friend laughed at me, but I went and 

 found an old bird within ten feet of 



