WOODCOCK VESPERS 



WHEN I came to this town to live, in April, 

 ten years ago, one of my first concerns was 

 to find a woodcock resort. The friend with 

 whom I commonly took a stroll at sundown 

 had never heard the " evening hymn " of 

 that bird, and, knowing him for a lover of 

 " the poetry of earth," I was eager to help 

 him to a new pleasure. If the thing was to 

 be done at all, it must be done soon, as the 

 bird's musical season is brief. So we walked 

 and made inquiries. 



A farmer, who knew the region well, told 

 us that woodcock used to be common about 

 a certain swamp, but had not been so, he 

 thought, of recent years. We visited it, of 

 course, but heard nothing. Then the same 

 man bethought himself of a likelier place, 

 farther away. Thither, also, we went, hav- 

 ing to hasten our steps, for the bird must 

 be caught at precisely such a minute, between 



