38 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



the cover some little distance from the ride, I sprung 

 two old birds and three young ones, the young being 

 half-grown ; 1 did not see a nest. I am quite sure 

 as to the month and the year in which I saw them." 

 The above are the only instances of Woodcocks 

 breeding with us of which I possess any details, but 

 I know that young Woodcocks were found in my 

 boyhood by one of our gamekeepers in Lilford 

 Wood, and I have a distinct recollection of having 

 heard stories to the same effect with regard to Bear- 

 shank Wood and Brigstock Forest. From the 

 testimony of many most competent observers and 

 authors it seems that a very much larger number of 

 AVoodcocks breed in the British Islands at present 

 than was the case fifty years ago, and I imagine that 

 there are very few counties of England, Wales, 

 Scotland, and Ireland that cannot now claim young 

 Woodcocks amongst their " natural productions." 



This bird is a very early breeder, often laying in 

 the second or third week of March, generally before 

 the end of that month ; the time of incubation has 

 not, it seems, been positively recorded, but from 

 analogy should last from eighteen to twenty days. 

 The nest is, as a rule, nothing more than a depression 

 in the ground lined with dead leaves and occasionally 

 a little dry moss, often, but not invariably, well 

 sheltered above, but with open ground for some 

 distance around it. The full complement of eggs is 

 four ; they are very large for the size of the bird, are 

 not so pointed at the small end as those of most of 

 the other species of the family Scoloioacidce, and in 

 colour bear a certain resemblance to those of the 

 Land-Rail, being of a creamy white with markings 

 of ash-grey and pale rusty brown. 



