drew nearer, five woodcock flushed at the 



oO 



same moment, the greatest number that I 

 j iave ever known being found together. 



when l asked the un i earne d hunter 

 who was yet wise in the ways of the woods 

 the reason for Whitooweek's strutting at 

 this season, after the families have scattered, 

 he had no theory or explanation. " Just a 

 queer streak, same 's most birds have, on'y 

 queerer," he said, and let it go at that. I 

 have seen the habit but once, and then 

 imperfectly, for I blundered upon t\vo or 

 three birds and flushed them before I could 

 watch the peiformance. It is certainly not 

 to win his mate, for the season for that is 

 long past; and unless it be a suggestion of 

 the grouse habit of gathering in small bands 

 for a kind of rude dance, I am at a loss to 

 account for it. Possibly play may appeal 

 even to Whitooweek, as it certainly appeals 

 to all other birds; and it is play alone that 

 can make him forget he is a hermit. 



With the beginning of the molt the 

 birds desert the woods and swamps where 

 they were reared and disappear absolutely. 



