WOODCOCK. 209 
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 
PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS (Linneus). 
This species is always rarer in England than the 
Grey Phalarope, and there are only two records of its 
occurrencein Cheshire. Byerley says, on the authority 
of Mather, a Liverpool taxidermist, that a Red-necked 
Phalarope was killed on a pit in Wirral;! and there 
is an old specimen in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, 
which is said to have been obtained in the neighbour- 
hood of that city, but about which further details are, 
unfortunately, lacking.? 
WOODCOCK. 
ScOLOPAX RUSTICULA, Linnzeus. 
From October to March the Woodcock may be met 
with in woods and plantations in all parts of the 
county, but the numbers which visit us are by no 
means constant. The winter of 1893-94 was noticeable 
for the large numbers of Woodcocks that were shot, 
whilst in 1896-97 very few were obtained. 
The majority of the birds leave in March, but pro- 
bably a few pairs remain every year to breed, nests 
having been recorded from widely separated localities. 
Brockholes writes :—‘ During the spring of 1860, three 
or four pairs of Woodcocks frequented woods near 
Birkenhead until an advanced date. In the evening 
of August 24th, 1856, I saw a Woodcock between 
Bidston and Upton. I have also seen a Woodcock in 
1 Byerley, op. cit. p. 20. 2 Dobie, op. cit. p. 335, 
