OF NEW ENGLAND. 391 



fore the first of June, and mature in about eighteen days. The 

 young leave the nest immediately, and find the greater part of 

 their own food, though the hen sometimes offers them a few 

 morsels. At this time, the latter part of June, and indeed 

 through the rest of the summer, the young broods commonly 

 frequent low, moist grounds in thick coverts, where food is 

 abundant and water at hand, and there they are sure to be met 

 with in a search for summer Woodcock. Should a brood be 

 disturbed, while still with the hen, the latter feigns lameness, 

 and decoys the intruder awa}-, suffering him to put his hand 

 almost upon her, uttering a clucking of anxiety, until she 

 thinks him at a safe distance from her young, when she darts 

 off on the wing, her chicks having meantime hidden, and leaves 

 the deluded victim of this pretty ruse to wonder alone. Some- 

 times, she even bristles up and attacks the offender, as well 

 as she can, and much like a brooding hen. 



If the first nest be destroyed, a second hatching is often en- 

 tered upon. The } T oung increase rapidly in size, and by the 

 first of September are two-thirds grown. Until then they re- 

 main more or less together in a covey, and, if undisturbed, 

 even do so until the following spring. While young, they 

 suffer severely from exposure to unusual weather, especially to 

 cold and heavy rains, which are very destructive. Moreover, a 

 species of wood-tick attacks them in summer, inserting its tri- 

 angular head beneath the skin. It is said to be especially dan- 

 gerous, when it attaches itself to the bird's head or neck, but, 

 at all events, many birds suffer from it. They are also often 

 infested with lice, and are occasionally troubled by a kind of 

 bott-worm, which resembles a large maggot, and which must 

 be fatal, since it reaches the flesh. 



In the first part of the shooting-season, whether it be Sep- 

 tember or October, tolerable sport may be had with the birds 

 over a gun, if they have not been disturbed previously, and 

 if they are abundant and in passable woods, though in the 

 wilderness or rough forest they can only be shot while sta- 

 tionary, as the woods are usually too thick and encumbered to 

 allow of shooting at them on the wing. In such places, or 



