592 SCOLOPACID/E. 



with a bird in its bill. The boy followed the weakest of the 

 brood, and discovered it to be a young Woodcock, which 

 is now in the possession of Mr. Biirgoin, gamekeeper to the 

 Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. The bird which the 

 boy first saw, was one of the parents conveying its offspring 

 from the impending danger, across the river at Ashford, — 

 Derby Mercury. Lastly, I may add, that Mr. L. Lloyd, in 

 his Field Sports of the North of Europe, using the words 

 of Mr. GriefF, who is a high authority among Scandinavian 

 sportsmen, says, " If, in shooting, you meet with a brood of 

 Woodcocks, and the young ones cannot fly, the old bird 

 takes them separately between her feet, and flies from the 

 dogs with a moaning cry." 



The nests of the Woodcock have been already noticed ; 

 the eggs are of a pale yellowish white ; the larger end blotch- 

 ed and spotted with ash grey, and two shades of reddish yel- 

 low brown : the length, one inch nine lines, by one inch four 

 lines in breadth. I have received the eggs of this bird from 

 Sussex and Hertfordshire, and had one presented to me in 

 the spring of 1889, by Mr. William Rayner of Uxbridge, 

 which was obtained about three miles north-east of that town. 



Mr. Dunn says the Woodcock is occasionally seen both 

 in Orkney and Shetland, but does not stay any time, merely 

 resting itself on its passage to and from the countries border- 

 ing the Baltic. 



Mr. Dann informs me that the Woodcock arrives in Scan- 

 dinavia at the latter end of March or the beginning of April, 

 and is seen at that period in the neighbourhood of the coast 

 in considerable numbers, particularly if the frost be severe. 

 They proceed into the interior, however, with the first west 

 wind. During the summer season they are rarely to be seen 

 on the wing, except at night. They are common and li-e- 

 qucntly to be seen crossing the Guldsbradalen {Golden Valley) 

 in Norway, and flitting down the road after the sun is down, 



