272 BIRDS OP NOBFOLZ. 



SCOLOPAX RUSTICOLA, Linn ffi us. 



WOODCOCK. 



Mr. Selby's often quoted remarks on the migratory 

 habits of the Woodcock, as observed more particularly 

 on the Northumberland coast, agree so nearly with the 

 experience of our local naturalists, that it is difficult 

 to describe the habits of this bird in Norfolk without 

 apparent plagiarism. As the chief prize of the sportsman 

 also, and the bonne bouche of the epicure, this popular 

 migrant attracts universal attention, indeed its autumnal 

 and vernal movements, though from widely different 

 motives, are not less noted than those of the cuckoo, 

 the nightingale, and the swallow. 



The southward migration commences by the end of 

 September* or beginning of October, when the first 

 nights reach our shores from their northern breeding 

 grounds. These almost invariably pass on to the south- 

 ward or westward after a brief rest, and are followed by 

 larger bodies at intervals, depending much upon the 

 wind, throughout October and November, the later birds 

 becoming more resident in our coverts; and even in 

 December and January fresh nights make their appear- 

 ance from time to time, but these, as is the case also with 

 the snipe, almost invariably precede or arrive simulta- 

 neously with severe and stormy weather. On the 4th of 

 January, 1854, as Mr. Do well informs me, a flight was 

 seen at Blakeney during a gale from the north-east with 

 severe frost and snow, and the same thing was observed 

 at Yarmouth in January, 1867, during the intense cold 



* I find but one or two records either in Mr. Dowell's or my 

 own notes of woodcocks killed in September, and those very late 

 in the month. Thompson (" Birds of Ireland," vol. ii., p. 235), gives 

 a few rare instances of their appearance in the north of Ireland 

 towards the end of September, and one as early as the 8th. 



