AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 43 



is very dark or tempestuous, the Woodcock does not 

 travel from his feeding-ground further than into the 

 nearest shelter from the wind. 



In our neighbourhood the first flight of Woodcocks 

 appears to be small in number and much scattered ; 

 the second flight, which generally arrives sooner or 

 later during the month of November, is more 

 numerous, and the birds of which it is composed 

 seem to find their way at once to the coverts that 

 they prefer, and to remain there as long as the 

 weather remains open and our ploughed lands 

 available as feeding-grounds ; as soon as the frost 

 becomes severe the Woodcocks naturally seek the 

 margins of running brooks and boggy spring-heads 

 for their nocturnal banquet, but a few days of really 

 hard frost, more especially if accompanied by snow, 

 soon clear our woods of these most desirable birds. 



I cannot hear of any really large bag of Woodcocks 

 having been made in Northamptonshire. An old 

 gamekeeper of ours often told me a story of having, 

 with one companion — a very bad shot — killed twenty- 

 six in Bearshank Wood ; this was many years ago, 

 in the days of flint and steel. The old man always 

 said that if his companion had been a tolerable 

 performer with the fowling-piece the bag would have 

 been doubled. I have been informed of " about 

 twenty " as the largest bag ever made in one day in 

 various of the most likely and favourite coverts of the 

 northern division of our county. 



In November 1870 I was staying for shooting at 

 Bulwick, and well remember that on our arrival at 

 the wood's side our host, the late Mr. Thos. Tryon, 

 was informed by one of his game-watchers that he 

 had seen a flight of birds, " some dozen or fifteen," 



