riPLAND SHOOTING. 191 



And with this ends all that is to be said on summer Wood- 

 cock sti()()tiiii4 ; for tlie period duriii<,f which the sport can be 

 followed is of itself brief, not lastintr — at the utmost not above a 

 month from its commencement to its termination, by the disap- 

 pearance of the birds from their usual haunts in this section of 

 the country. 



This disappearance of the bird is one of the most mysterious 

 and inexplicable Matures in the natural history of the Wood- 

 cock ; and what is very remarkable, it is not in any wise no- 

 ticed or alluded to by any naturalist with whose works I am 

 acquainted. Neither Audubon nor Wilson appear cognizant 

 of the fact, both speaking of the Woodcock, as if it tarried with 

 us regularly from its arrival early in February, until its depar- 

 ture on the setting in of severe frost. 



That this is not the case, is perfectly well known to every 

 sportsman in the country, although very few of these have trou- 

 bled their heads to consider the circumstances of this short mi- 

 gration, much less to record it. The fact is, that so soon as the 

 young birds of the last brood are fuH-growni, the Woodcock 

 withdraws for the pui-pose of moulting, and retunis no more 

 until the autumnal frosts have set fairly in, until the meadow 

 grass is crisp, and the leaves sear. A few scattered birds in- 

 deed linger in the old places, just enough to prove that there is 

 an absolute change of place on the part of the others of the fa- 

 mily, niid these only, it is probable, in consequence of some ac- 

 cidental circumstance which has detained them, such as the late- 

 ness of their last brood, or perhaps an unduly early moult on 

 their own part, compelling them to remain tranquil, while their 

 congeners are moving. 



At all events, the disappearance of the main body is sudden, 

 total, and simultaneous. So much so, that for the five oi- six 

 earliest years of my residence in America, when matters of bu- 

 siness prevented me from absenting myself from the city until 

 the first of August, I was utterly unaware that the " Drowned 

 Lands" of Orange county ever held many Woodcock, although 

 I was in the habit of passing my summers in that immediate 



