i6 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



as a rule at night, and chiefly at the time of the full moon, this is not invariably 

 the case; on October 28th, 1881, I saw a Woodcock come straight in from the 

 sea, twenty yards high, and pitch on a bare patch of shingle : this was shortly 

 before mid-day, and I thought it such an unusual circumstance that I skinned 

 the bird for my collection. It has been long held that the British-breeding Cocks 

 leave as soon as the young can fly sufficiently well. I think Hancock originated 

 this theory, but I never could accept it, and was pleased to find, when Howard 

 Saunders' "Manual" came out, that his opinion was that this non-appearance was 

 " attributable to self-effacement." I had devoted some attention to the question, 

 when resident in Northumberland (where the bird breeds in comparative plenty), 

 and published some notes in the "Zoologist" (1884, p. 104) stating that I had 

 found Woodcocks about in June, July, August, and September in fact in all the 

 twelve months of the year. 



It is well-known that Woodcocks follow certain routes to their favourite 

 feeding-grounds in the evening, as they also have preferences for certain woods, 

 and certain parts of woods, to lie in during the day. In short, they are very 

 peculiar and fanciful in their tastes, and are guided by circumstances not apparent 

 to us in their liking for one place rather than for another which seems to our 

 eyes to offer the same advantages. A wood, above my father's late house, in 

 Northumberland, was a regular passing-place for Cocks, and at dusk, on any April 

 or May evening, a sight of half-a-dozen at least was a certainty, as they passed 

 rapidly above the trees, announced, long before they themselves were visible, by 

 their peculiar half-squeak, half-whistle. I have here seen them "tilting" in the 

 air, in the manner described by St. John, and others. It has been suggested that 

 this tilting (at which time they tumble and twirl about in the air in pairs and 

 threes, apparently prodding at one another with their bills) is connected with 

 pairing, but I cannot think so, as I have witnessed it as late as the end of May. 

 I rather think it is pure playfulness, as of children just out of school, after lying 

 concealed and quiet most of the day. 



I have occasionally flushed Woodcocks at night from wet rushy fields, where 

 they were doubtless probing the ground for worms and larvae, occasionally turning 

 over the droppings of cattle for concealed beetles. But they also feed in woods 

 to a certain extent, turning the dead leaves over to find insects, etc. The accounts 

 of the extent of their appetites, and of the amount of worms, etc., which they will 

 put away at a sitting, are surprising. These they find in the earth with their 

 bills, which are modified into a very delicate organ of touch. 



If the horny epidermis be removed, a number of small pits of a hexagonal 

 shape will be seen in the bone at the end of the bill, remotely suggesting an 



