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CHAPTER XVI. 



WOODCOCK AND SNIPE. 



THESE woodcocks are undoubtedly migratory, passing the 

 winter in the genial South and the summer in the North ; 

 they are also nocturnal, doing all their travelling by night. 

 From the peculiar formation of the eye, their sight is much 

 better after the sun has declined. Strong light is their 

 detestation, for, judging from their conduct when flushed 

 in the noonday glare, their optics are then of little use, 

 hence the idea that is so frequently current that this bird 

 is stupid. Such is not the case, but quite the reverse, 

 experience having taught me that they are as capable as 

 any other of availing themselves of artifices and hiding- 

 places that are likely to throw out the dog, or shelter them 

 from molestation This bird, although undoubtedly of the 

 same family, must not be confounded with the European, 

 which is coloured differently in plumage and much larger 

 in size. The woodcock killed in England generally 

 measure about 14 J inches in length, and weigh from 14 to 

 17 ozs., although one is reported to have been killed at 



