SHOOTING THE WOODCOCK. 131 



is not in the prairie States so much of the sort 

 of ground the woodcock likes as there is further 

 east. I do, indeed, know of plenty of ground in 

 Central Illinois which one would think just suit- 

 able for woodcock, but, owing to some reason 

 which I have never been able to discover, the 

 birds are not found there. A stray one or two 

 may be picked up occasionally, but they are 

 never there in any number. I suppose it to be 

 owing to some peculiarity in the soil. These 

 neighborhoods have much of the right kind of 

 food, ana snipe abound near them ; but for some 

 reason the woodcock does not like them. About 

 the middle of October there is a great increase 

 in the number of woodcock in the bottoms 

 and islands of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. 

 Flights of those bred further north then arrive, 

 and they stay until driven away by sharp frosts. 

 When they first arrive from the North, the leaves 

 are still thick, but the white frosts, which are 

 quite insufficient to freeze the ground and drive 

 the woodcock south, wilt the leaves, and then 

 the shooting is pleasant and good. Generally 

 speaking, the woodcock remain well along through 

 November, and some seasons they have not all 

 gone by the 1st of December. They like the 



