554 WOODCOCK. 



has not occurred in Iceland, though met with as a straggler in New- 

 foundland and on the Atlantic coast of the United States. The 

 majority nest in the vast forests of Scandinavia and Russia ; a 

 smaller number breeding over the rest of Europe — up to the limit of 

 tree-growth — as far south as Northern Italy, Transylvania, the Balkans 

 and the Caucasus. On both sides of the Mediterranean basin the 

 bird is chiefly found in winter, when it is plentiful in suitable locali- 

 ties ; but in the wooded mountains of the Canaries, Madeira and the 

 Azores it is resident. Persia and India are only visited during the 

 cold season, though it breeds in the Himalayas at an elevation of 

 10,000 ft, and in the Japanese group as far south as the great 

 volcano of Fujisan ; while northward it inhabits the Bureja Moun- 

 tains, the high land about Lake Baikal and the entire wooded region 

 of Siberia, during the summer. 



The eggs — often laid early in March, though more frequently in 

 April — are usually 4 in number ; they are slightly pyriform, and of 

 a yellowish- white colour, blotched with ash-grey and two shades of 

 reddish-brown: average measurements 175 by i"3in. The nest is 

 merely a depression in some sheltered place, a lining of dead leaves 

 being added during the progress of incubation. It is notorious 

 that the female often removes her young, although the manner has 

 been much disputed ; the balance of evidence appears to be that 

 the nestling is clasped between the thighs of the old bird and 

 pressed close up to her body, sometimes even to the base of the 

 bill. During the day the Woodcock rests in dry grassy bottoms, 

 or beneath thick bushes — such as holly or laurel, but at dusk and 

 early in the morning, especially during breeding-time, the male per- 

 sistently follows certain tracks along glades in woods — often called 

 * cock-roads ' — uttering a deep as well as a whistling note ; similar 

 routes are also traversed by both sexes on their way to and from 

 their feeding-grounds. Worms, when procurable, are devoured in 

 almost incredible quantities, while beetles and other insects, small 

 crustaceans, and even mussels, are also eaten ; and I have watched a 

 bird obtaining its food under circumstances which, if narrated, 

 would not conduce to a taste for ' trail.' Few birds exceed 15 ozs. 

 in weight, though such are on record. 



The general colour of the upper plumage is reddish-brown 

 vermiculated with black, and that of the under parts wood-brown 

 with darker bars. Externally the sexes are absolutely alike, but 

 the spring dress is paler than that of autumn ; there is, however, 

 great individual variation. Total length i4"5 in. ; wing 8 in. 

 Partial albinisms are not uncommon. 



