WOODCOCK-SHOOTING. 95 



birds, is very careful of her nest and young. When a 

 dog or other animal approaches them, she conducts 

 herself in such a manner as to lead him to suppose 

 that she is wounded, until at such times she has suc- 

 ceeded in luring him to a distance from her brood or 

 nest, when she gives him to understand that she has 

 the free use of her members. 



When her progeny are in danger she not unfrequent- 

 ly, it is said, removes them to a place of safety. Mr. 

 Lloyd relates an instance of a sportsman shooting a 

 woodcock flushed by the dogs, at about six feet from 

 the ground, that was bearing an unfledged young 

 one in her claws. The old bird grasped the young 

 one with her feet, one foot having hold of one wing, 

 and the other foot the other. From what Mr. Lloyd 

 further says on this point, it seems to be pretty gener- 

 ally admitted among the sportsmen of his country 

 that woodcock do possess the power of carrying their 

 young about from place to place ; and this testimony 

 would seem to confirm the truth of a similar statement 

 previously made with reference to English woodcock. 



According to Mr. Lloyd, the migratory flights of 

 woodcock are believed to be always nocturnal. No 

 one, at least, either in England or Scandinavia, seems 

 to have witnessed them in the daytime, and it is also 

 the general belief that the migratory flights of these 

 birds are pretty much confined to moonlight nights. 

 But he adds : " This can hardly be the case, because 

 an indefatigable sportsman tells us that, in the year 

 1845, these birds arrived in Scandinavia between the 

 29th of March and the 10th of April, when the nights 

 were the darkest." 



