THE WOODCOCK 293 



rain to-morrow " uttered in a croaking voice, or by others compared to 

 " croho, croho." " I have seen the bird's body," he remarks, " deflected 

 at the third croak, while outlined against the sky." The other note 

 which often immediately follows the croak is a chirping screech, 

 which has been likened to " chizzie" Mr. Pentland is convinced that 

 both sexes croak and call, since when woodcock are flying about in this 

 way every one is calling, and females as well as males must be on the 

 wing. Mr. MofFat, another well-known Irish ornithologist, further- 

 more states that when they are thus playing about two may frequently 

 be seen to dart alongside each other for a few hundred yards, chirrup- 

 ing loudly and excitedly as if in defiance. These flights one is not 

 surprised to find take place both at dusk and dawn during the spring 

 and summer. This peculiar aerial performance is known as " roding." 

 The flight at such times is comparatively slow and straight, and is 

 accompanied by a puffing out of the plumage, giving the actors an 

 exaggerated bulk. This "roding," or "reading" as it is sometimes 

 called, is commonly regarded as representing all that takes place 

 during the courtship of the woodcock, and answering to the drumming 

 of the snipe. But those who have read Mr. De Visme Shaw's most 

 entertaining account of this bird l will have gathered that this is by no 

 means the case. For he tells us that " During the period of courtship, 

 and while the female is sitting, the male woodcock displays daytime 

 activity which is never evinced at any other period of the year. 

 When courting the lady of his choice, he is fond of strutting about 

 with drooped wings and spread tail, and with the feathers of head and 

 neck puffed out to their uttermost. As soon as his mate begins to 

 sit, he will spend the first hour or so of daylight in flitting up and 

 down the ride or open space near which the nest is situated, utter- 

 ing meantime a cry which may be likened to ' whe-e-espj and at 

 intervals giving voice to a second cry resembling the monosyllable 

 ' Ivee, Ivee ' : while this lasts, he looks, with the puffed out feathers of 

 neck and head, for all the world like some strange, long-beaked owl. 



1 Snipe and Woodcock, Fur, Feather, and Fin Series, p. 132. 



