WOODCOCK. 591 



been hatclied even at that early period of the year. Two of 

 the young broods, with tlie old birds leading them about, 

 have been seen by the keepers of that gentleman, Avho re- 

 marks in his letter, that, on going to the nest, the old bird 

 did not rise until he had approached within the distance of 

 a yard. They were all in dry, warm, situations, amongst 

 dead grass and leaves, without any attempt at concealment. 

 The nest sent was wholly composed of dead leaves, chiefly 

 of the common fern, loosely laid together, and without any 

 lining. The underwood was thin, and of not more than from 

 seven to ten years growth. There was good reason to believe 

 that Woodcocks had bred in these covers in previous years. 

 In the tenth volume of the Magazine of Natural History, 

 for 1837, at pages 120 and 887, are two other accounts of 

 Woodcocks breeding in Scotland : the first at Brahan Castle, 

 in Ross-shire, where two nests were pointed out by the 

 keeper ; the second at Castle Forbes, in Aberdeenshire. 

 The game-keepers, both at Brahan Castle and at Conan, as- 

 sured those to whom they showed the different nests, that 

 they had seen the old Woodcocks carry their young in their 

 claws, and this account was positively spoken to as a fact, by 

 a third person who had witnessed it. Another writer, in the 

 same volume, states that he had seen a similar act performed 

 in the woods at Dunkeld, a locality in which Woodcocks 

 have often been known to breed. Bewick, quoting BufFon, 

 says, they sometimes take a weak one under their throat, and 

 convey it more than a thousand paces. White, in his Na- 

 tural History of Selborne, quotes the words of Scopoli in 

 reference to the Woodcock, that, ""^ puUos rostro portat 

 fiigicns ah hoste,'"'' and comments upon it as improbable. A 

 writer in the fifth volume of the magazine before quoted, 

 page 570, mentions having seen an old Woodcock fly off 

 with a young chick in her claws. A boy fishing disturbed 

 a nest, the birds from which flew in different directions, one 



