"WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 87 



in the hen presents a narrow stripe of white alon? the lower part 

 of the exterior veil of the feather. ^ In the male bird it is different; 

 the same feather at the same part is beautifdly and regularly spot- 

 ted with black and_ reddish white. Many sportsmen maintain that 

 there is another criterion, namely, the greater size of the female 

 bird; but this is not invariably to be relied on. 



The female woodcock makes her nest on the bare ground, and 

 very often chooses the root or stump of a decayed tree for the lo- 

 cality. The nest is very carelessly formed of a few drie d fibres and 

 leaves, upon which she commonly lays four or five eggs, a shade 

 larger than those of pigeons, and of a rusty green colour, blotched 

 and marked with dusky ill-defined spots. The young leave the nest 

 as soon as they are freed from the sheU ; but the parent bird con- 

 tinues to attend them until they can provide for themselves. Buf- 

 fon informs us that the mother will sometimes take a weak bird 

 under its throat and carry it more than a thousand paces. 



The flesh of the woodcock is held in high estimation by all lovers 

 of good and dainty eating ; and hence it is eagerly sought after by 

 many sportsmen. It need scarcely be remarked th at, in cooking' 

 it, the entrails are not drawn, but roasted within the bird, from 

 whence they drop out with the gravy, upon slices of toasted bread, 

 and are relished as a delicious kind of sauce. The Italians and 

 Erench have each particular modes of cooking this bird, which they 

 do in such capital style as to leave an impression on the palate for 

 some time after. ^ 



On the migration of the woodcock, it is requisite we should make 

 a remark or two. They mostly arrive in the sou th of England 

 during the month 9f October. They do not come in large flocks, 

 but keep dropping in one by one, tiU about the month of December. 

 They are very i)robably much influenced in their movements from 

 the wind, which if it blow from a continental quar ter is more Hkely 

 to aid their flight than a current in the opposite direction. They 

 must have the instinctive precaution of landing only in the night, 

 or in dark misty weather, for they are neverseen to arrive, but are 

 frequently discovered next morning in any ditch which affords them 

 shelter, and particularly after the extraordinary fatigue occasioned 

 by the adverse winds which they have often to encounter in their 

 aerial flight. They do not remain on the shores to take their rest 

 longer than a day, but commonly find themselves sufficiently re- 

 cruited in that time to proceed inland to the very same haunts 

 which they left the preceding season. In stormy weather they re- 

 tire to the mossy moors and high bleak mountainous parts 9f the 

 country ; but as soon as the frost sets in, and the snow begins to 

 fall, they return to lower and warmer situations, where they meet 

 with boggy grounds and springs, and little oozing mossy rills which 

 are rarely frozen, and seek the shelter of the close bushes of hoUy, 

 furze, and brakes in the woody glens, or hoUow dells which are 

 covered with underwood; there they remain concealed during the 

 day, and remove to different haunts, and feed only in the night. 



