The American Woodcock 313 



evening in his haunts. Through the soft, damp 

 air comes a sudden squeaking cry, not unlike the 

 reedy sound emitted by some of the animal toys 

 of the children. It is followed by the well-known 

 and musical twittering, which must not be con- 

 founded with that other whistling of the air pass- 

 ing through the feathers of the wing. The 

 squeaking is uttered both while the bird is upon 

 the ground and when flying. It is not unlike the 

 cry of the night-hawk, for which bird the cock 

 might, in the dusk, easily be mistaken, were it 

 not for the fact that the hawk does not begin his 

 airy play until some time after the woodcock has 

 mated. 



My favorite ground for observation was a 

 huge level pasture, which was bounded on two 

 sides by woodland and thickets. Above this 

 open the woodcock played evening after evening, 

 and it was no unusual thing to see a male waver- 

 ing past within a few yards. First would sound 

 the squeak from the shadow of the timber, then 

 the whistle of the wings as the bird left the 

 ground, and then I would see the dark form of 

 the bird weaving to and fro, often at great speed. 

 After some preliminary darting about, during 

 which he occasionally uttered the rasping squeak, 

 he would begin to tower — up and up, till he 

 seemed far above the tallest trees, and could 

 be located only by his twittering whistle ; then he 



