WOODCOCK 23 
are favorable, the woodcock are killed during their 
winter sojourn by firelighting. 
Audubon, in his “Ornithological Biographies,” says 
that in Louisiana the negroes commonly killed wood- 
cock at night by firelighting and striking the birds with 
a pole or long stick. 
A resident of Louisiana described in Forest and 
Stream one method of this destruction, by which enor- 
mous numbers must be killed. He says: 
“This bird is migratory in this country and does not 
breed here at all, yet our State has protected him. If 
the States of his nativity were to protect him entirely 
for a few years, in conjunction with the protection 
afforded by the Southern States, no doubt he would 
soon become abundant. 
“The birds are night feeders. Their favorite feed- 
ing grounds are old sedge fields burned off clean, and 
pasture lands that have been pastured closely, but they 
can also be found in the cotton, corn and cane fields. 
They must be hunted on ground that is fairly clean 
of weeds and grass, else they cannot be seen. 
“They are hunted with a torch. The primitive way 
was a pine torch in an old-fashioned fire basket with a 
long handle, extra fuel being carried in a sack, but the 
torch has been superseded by the kerosene lamp. A 
large lamp is placed in a tin frame with a glass front. 
The lamp has a strong reflector behind it and should 
illuminate the ground for fifty feet. It is carried by a 
man who does no shooting, suspended by a strap 
around his shoulders and about waist high. Walking 
