this spot I have gone over the whole place 

 to find some reason for Whitooweek's strange 

 fancy; but all in vain. The ground is open 

 and stony, with hardly a fern or root or 

 grass tuft to shelter even a woodcock; and 

 look as closely as you will you can find 

 no boring or sign of Whitooweek's feeding. 

 From all external appearances it is the last 

 spot where you would expect to find such a 

 bird, and there are excellent covers close at 

 hand; yet here is where Whitooweek loves 

 to lie during the day, and to this spot he 

 will return as long as there are any wood- 

 cock left. Hunters may harry the spot to- 

 day and kill the few rare birds that still visit 

 it; but to-morrow, if there be any birds in 

 the whole neighborhood, there will be prac- 

 tically the same number just where the first 

 were killed. 



I have questioned old gunners about this 

 spot, which I discovered by flushing two 

 woodcock at a time when none were to be 

 found, though they were searched for by a 

 score of young hunters and dogs, and find 

 that it has been just so as long 



