THE WOODCOCK. 227 



five ; and never, that we have known, beyond that 

 number. The eggs are surprisingly large in pro- 

 portion to the bird, and of a brown colour, variegated, 

 like the young, with beautiful clouded tints. Like 

 all the larger ground-birds, they run as soon as they 

 are hatched, which is early in the spring ; and in 

 May I found a brood of five, so large that I could 

 only catch the smallest, and that with difficulty. As 

 the nests are laid on dry ground, and often at a dis- 

 tance from moisture, in the latter case, as soon as 

 the young are hatched, the old bird will sometimes 

 carry them in her claws to the nearest spring or 

 green stripe. In the same manner, when in danger, 

 she will rescue those which she can lift. Of this 

 we have had frequent opportunities for observation 

 in Tarnaway. Various times, when the hounds, in 

 beating the ground, have come upon a brood, we 

 have seen the old bird rise with a young one in her 

 claws, and carry it fifty or a hundred yards away ; 

 and, if followed to the place where she pitched, she 

 has repeated the transportation until too much 

 harassed. In any sudden alarm she will act in the 

 same way. One morning I had been sitting for 

 some time on the gray stone of the ' Braigh-clach- 



