WOODCOCK-SHOOTING. 8l 



color, with a few scattered spots. In the New England 

 States, woodcock pair off or mate about the 5th of 

 April, when they begin to build their nests. These 

 are made entirely by the female birds, and consist of 

 a few dry leaves scratched together in a rough, care- 

 less manner. Both male and female birds take a part 

 in incubation, during which period they are quite tame. 



It is but seldom that a woodcock's nest is found. 

 I once found a young brood of these birds while trout- 

 ing, about the 10th of May, in an early spring; and 

 they were certainly a funny-looking set of peeps, with 

 their long bills, which seemed to be the principal part 

 of- them. With the exception of their bills, they very 

 much resembled young chickens. 



These interesting birds generally hang around their 

 brooding-places, if they are undisturbed, and the sea- 

 son is favorable for boring. In one respect they resem- 

 ble some of the human species. They live entirely 

 by boring, — not their friends and neighbors, how- 

 ever, but mother-earth, in which they find bugs, flies, 

 and other insects, and, above all, the angle-worm, 

 of which they eat enormous quantities. Woodcock 

 are generally found in low ground, and in the swamps 

 and woods, among thick alders and maples, near a 

 spring or stream of water, where they are well covered 

 from the sunlight. 



When the hunter first enters the swamp to ascertain 

 if there are any cocks there, he must look for their bor- 

 ing-marks, and the spots they make, the latter of which 

 are as white as chalk. The boring-holes are usually in 

 thick clusters, and the experienced eye will readily tell 



