820 MANUAL OF MODlBRN FARRIERY. 



the vicinity, it was no uncommon thing for two or three 

 guns to bring home twenty, nay, thirty couple/' The Earl 

 of Claremont shot fifty couple in one day ; but it should be 

 premised, that such was the abundance of these birds as to 

 be sold in some parts near Ballyshannon, in the county of 

 Donegal, for one penny each, and the expense of powder 

 and shot. It is recorded by Mr. Daniel, that Mr. Yea, 

 of Swansea, killed one hundred couple in the season of 

 1796. 



The woodcock is a nocturnal bird, seeking repose during 

 the day ; the haunts selected by them are usually the closest 

 brakes of birch and other brushy underwood, and where the 

 ground, from the deep shade, is nearly free from herbage ; 

 and, for this reason, thick fir-plantations of ten or twelve 

 years' growth are a favourite resort. They are generally 

 found in extensive woods, and abound most in thickets by 

 the sides of open glades, or where roads intersect, as by these 

 they pass to and from their feeding-ground at evening and 

 in the dawn of the morning. Sir Humphrey Davy, in his 

 Salmonia, says, '* A laurel or holly-bush is a favourite place 

 for their repose': the thick and varnished leaves of these 

 trees prevent the radiation of heat from the soil ; and they 

 are less affected by the refrigerating influence of a clear sky, 

 so that they afford a warm seat for the woodcock.'' 



The woodcock is naturally a very shy and retired bird, 

 rarely taking wing by day, unless disturbed ; but on the ap- 

 proach of eve all, as if by common consent, quit the woods 

 nearly at the same instant, and wander over the meadows in 

 search of splashy places and moist ditches for food, retiring 

 to their hiding-places again just at dawn of da}^ Thus, 

 when most other birds are recruiting exhausted nature by 

 sleep, these are rambling through the dark, directed by an 

 exquisite sense of smelling, to those places most likely to 



