THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 211 



Several woodcock from Alnwick have been killed in 

 Ireland some time after their first season, as the following 

 instances will show : One marked in 1902 was shot on 

 the Dunmanay Mountains, Co. Cork, in March, 1903; 

 another, marked in 1903, was killed on the Castle Towns- 

 hend estate, in the same county, on January 8, 1907 ; and 

 another, marked in 1905, was secured at Carass, Croom, 

 Co. Limerick, on November 21, 1906. The best illustra- 

 tion of all, however, is supplied by the bird killed in 

 Brittany, in the Commune of Glomel, near Rostrenen, 

 Cotes du Nord, in November, 1907. This bird was marked 

 in 1905, and its identity w>as proved beyond a doubt, the 

 ring round its leg being sent home by the Vicomte de 

 Foulavoir, who vouched for the accuracy of the particulars 

 given. It may safely be concluded from this last instance, 

 that home-bred woodcock are, on occasion, as much given 

 to wandering as any of the birds that pay a visit to Great 

 Britain in the autumn, and it is likely that for one wood- 

 cock killed and identified there are a dozen others that 

 either escape altogether or are not reported. 



So far as they go, the Alnwick experiments are intensely 

 interesting, but one must be careful not to draw hasty, and 

 possibly incorrect, conclusions from them. They may 

 mean a great deal, or, upon the other hand, they may not 

 be so conclusive as they seem. And this is because, owing 

 to the nature of the marking, the endeavour cannot be 

 regarded as quite complete. The birds are marked w'th 

 a soft metal ring, upon which is simply stamped the initial 

 "N," followed by the year of marking. Now, to the 

 stranger, and especially to the foreigner, these marks are 

 not very intelligible, and it is more than likely that out 

 of every dozen w r oodcock thus marked that might be dis- 

 covered by gunners in various parts of this or any other 

 country, not three would be reported to the proper quarter. 

 Some of those who shoot birds with these mysterious 

 markings might not deem it worth while to take the trouble 

 to report; others, like the friend of the Shooting Times 

 correspondent referred to, would have no notion what the 



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