242 The Woodcock 
By early autumn the woodcock families have spread 
out into the country; and here the cornfield is their 
favorite resort, because of the moist condition of 
the soil which supplies abundant food for them. 
Later in the autumn, during October and November, 
the woodcocks that have escaped the gunners migrate 
to the Southern States, probably more on account of 
the failing food supply than because of the cold weather. 
I wish to illustrate more fully the protective colora- 
tion and the ‘‘apparent tameness”’ of the woodcock 
by my experience in photographing one. I asked a 
friend who lived in the country to notify me when he 
found a woodcock nesting. About the twentieth of 
April I received word that he had found one; so the 
next day I joined him, and with a long-focus camera 
and twelve plates we set out to photograph the wood- 
cock. 
The nest was in a hedgerow between two fields 
near a swamp, and as we neared the spot my friend 
stepped forward to point out the sitting bird. But 
although he had been there three times, it was several 
minutes before he was able to find her, so closely 
did her markings harmonize with her surroundings. 
My friend has the experienced eye of a hunter, has 
known the woodcock for forty years, and has seen 
dozens of nests; so he was puzzled to know why it 
