HABITS OF WOODCOCK. 221 



First. That the birds are driven back by 

 adverse gales, and return exhausted, after fruit- 

 lessly attempting to cross the Atlantic. 



Secondly. That they pass over the land till they 

 reach the coast, and then dare not venture farther, 

 instinct telling them that the ocean is no narrow 

 channel, as is the Irish or North Sea.* 



That during winter the frost is. less rigorous near 

 the sea than inland, and that the birds, having 

 experience of this, desert the woods and mountains 

 for the milder climate of the sea-shore and its imme- 

 diate vicinity, may safely be concluded. 



As Cock vanish from their favourite haunts during 

 severe frost, and at the same time appear in plenty 

 on the coast, is a strong argument in favour of the 

 latter supposition ; this idea is pretty generally 

 acknowledged. I have often heard inland shooters 

 and gamekeepers remark: "We have no Duck, 

 Geese, or Cock with us now ; they have all gone to 

 the coast, and will not return till the thaw/' I have 

 many times flushed Cock on the mud-flats, even 

 by day, Snipe frequently. It is probable that they 

 regularly visit such grounds by night, for at break 

 of day, in a frost, I have shot Cock amongst rocks 

 and seaweed on the beach, especially at high water, 

 when it would seem they were driven shoreward by 

 the rising tide. Further evidence of this I have 



or more on wing together. When migrating hither in the autumn, 

 they can find food to their fancy everywhere, but during severe 

 weather only a few places are open to them, and in the latter they 

 collect in numbers and rise in company. 



* In the autumn I have often remarked that Cock will strangely 

 enough appear on the west and south coasts of Ireland earlier than 

 they do in the north and east. 



