THE WOODCOCK 
could be turned to such a purpose. More recent 
observation has confirmed White's objection 
and has established the fact of the woodcock 
holding the young one between her thighs, 
the beak being apparently used to steady her 
burden. Whether the little ones are habitually 
carried about in this fashion, or merely on 
occasion of danger, is not known, and indeed 
the bird's preference for activity in the dusk 
has invested accurate observation of its habits 
with some difficulty. Among well-known 
sportsmen who were actually so fortunate as 
to have witnessed this interesting perform- 
ance, passing mention may be made of the 
late Duke of Beaufort, the Hon. Grantley 
Berkeley, and Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey. 
Reference has already been made to the 
now obsolete use of nets for the capture of 
these birds when " roding." The cock-shuts, 
as they were called, were spread so as to do 
their work after sundown, and this is the 
meaning of Shakespeare's allusion to " cock- 
shut time." This " roding " is a curious per- 
formance on the part of the males only, and 
it bears some analogy to the " drumming " of 
snipe. It is accompanied indeed by the same 
26 
