58 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



and sisters or else leave her chick on the other 

 side to shift for itself. 



I think one of the most charming sounds of 

 an early summer evening, when the air is heavy 

 with the aroma of the birches just bursting into 

 leaf and the murmur of the swift-flowing river in 

 the distance strikes pleasantly on the ears, is to 

 hear the note of the silent-flying Woodcock as he 

 flits like a giant bat in the gathering dusk. His 

 cry is first heard faintly in the far distance, and 

 gradually comes nearer and nearer, and one strains 

 to catch a glimpse of the bird as he flies quickly here 

 and there over the tree-tops. 



Although such an early nester, the eggs of the 

 Woodcock are not unfrequently found as late as 

 the beginning of August, and I think these are 

 undoubtedly the result of a second hatching, though 

 most likely only a few birds rear a second brood. 

 During the winter months the Woodcock goes 

 into retirement, and is only occasionally seen unless 

 the thick woods are visited, when he will rise at 

 one's feet and flit off like an arrow through the trees. 



Sometimes, when the birds have arrived 

 on our coasts after a long sea journey against 

 contrary winds, they are in such a state of 

 extreme exhaustion that one can take them with 

 the hand, so utterly worn out are they by their 

 battle against the storm. Numbers, too, are killed 

 by flying against the glass of lighthouses, dazzled 

 by the brilliant light. 



The Woodcock's food consists chiefly of worms, 

 for which the bird probes with its long bill amongst 

 the bogs, and the proximity of which it is to a cer- 

 tain extent able to tell by thrusting its sensitive 

 bill deep into the ground and waiting until it 



