200 WITH THE WIND. 



speaking of their migrations from the interior to the 

 coast prior to leaving the country, be equally applicable 

 to the Woodcock, it does not seem to be always the case ; 

 for the flight of these birds (the Thrushes) is then, he 

 says, " always in the very teeth of the wind, and, in 

 preference, when it is blowing hard." And Ekstrom is 

 not alone in entertaining the theory, if such it can be 

 called, of some birds of passage at least flying iKju'mxl Un- 

 wind ; for others tells us that " birds, if they can possibly 

 avoid it, never take long flights icitli the u-ii/d, because 

 their covering feathers then become rufllod, which incon- 

 veniences them ; and their wings, moreover, are so 

 depressed by the pressure of the air, that their flight 

 is rather impeded than faciliated." 



In further corroboration of Ekstrom's theory, we have 

 the evidence of the keeper of the light-house at Landsort 

 in the neighbourhood of Stockholm which stands at an 



o 



elevation of 148 feet above the sea: " Of the numerous 

 birds of passage that during migration fly on dark and 

 misty nights against the / Lantern,' one and all strike it 

 on the Ice side." * 



In concluding these few observations on the migratory 

 habits of the Woodcock, I w r ould remark, that it is neces- 

 sity, not choice, that compels these birds, on the approach 

 of winter, to leave their summer abode in the cold North 

 for more genial climes. Their chief food, as shown, con- 

 sists of worms, small beetles, &c., the breeding and 

 existence of which are dependent on the state of the 

 \\cather. On the coming of the frost, these retire to 



* He further mentions that "mi two several occasions Kiilcr Ducks 

 have flown with such force njjainst the ghiss at Icn-t two tenths of an inch 

 in thickness to smash it to pieces, and I" force their way into the 

 'Lantern' itself, where liy their tluttcrin;,' they ln-oke se\eial ^1 

 iiml iiijure.l the miiT'.i- . 'nit ilie.l -liortly atterw anls from the injuries they 

 hail re, e, 



