■tig? 1 ] Brewster, Notes and Song-Flight of the Woodcock. 207 



was no longer apparent, while the lengthening and shortening 

 of the neck became more conspicuous. In fact the head now 

 seemed to be bobbed up and down, much in the manner of an 

 Owl's. The movement of the wings was more strongly marked, 

 and its character and extent could be definitely traced. The 

 wings were not spread or opened, but merely jerked out from 

 the body spasmodically. The shoulders showed distinctly for 

 an instant, but the primaries were at all times covered by the 

 long overlapping feathers of the flanks and sides. These loose 

 feathers moved out and in with the wings, giving the body the 

 appearance of being laterally inflated and then contracted. 

 The mouth opened to such an extent that I could look directly 

 down the bird's throat, which appeared large enough to admit 

 the end of one's forefinger. The lateral distention of the mouth 

 was especially striking. 



Wilson Flagg says (Birds and Seasons in New England, p. 

 333) that the Woodcock while peeping k 'may be seen strutting 

 about like a Turkey-cock, with fantastic jerkings of the tail and 

 a frequent turning of the head." Neither Mr. Faxon nor I have 

 ever seen anything of the kind. On the contrary, one of the 

 most marked features of the performance is the fact that the bird, 

 when not in the act of uttering the sound, stands perfectly still, 

 and always in about the same attitude. Our subject to-night did 

 not once vary his attitude nor turn his head ever so slightly to 

 one or the other side. It was not uncommon, however, for him 

 to change his position after peeping a few times by turning partly 

 around and facing in a different direction ; and Mr. Faxon has 

 repeatedly seen him move from place to place, over a space of a 

 few square yards by quick, short runs, stopping to peep a 

 number of times in succession on the top of each little mound 

 that lay in his track and facing in different directions. Once 

 to-night he faced all four quarters of the compass in succession, 

 making a quarter turn each time without changing his ground. 

 Each change of position produced a marked change in the sound 

 of his voice. When his back was turned towards me, the fiaap 

 sounded muffled and much more distant, while I could hardly 

 hear the p l t-ul at all. Mr. Faxon has seen him descend from 

 the air to exactly the same spot three or four times in succession, 

 but to-night he alighted in a different place after each flight, 



