THE WOODCOCK AND IIEU YOUNG. 287 



cock's {net, people would think this was impossible ; 

 but it is nevertheless a fact, and, by holding their 

 heels pressed on either side of the young bird, their 

 long toes thus extended downwards, a purchase be- 

 neath its wings and breast is obtained, and they carry 

 the burden easily, though hanging lower than a hawk 

 permits his prey to hang when carrying it in his 

 talons. From observations I have made, I feel con- 

 vinced that the woodcocks carry their young to the 

 swamps and feeding places from the dry spots in the 

 woods, where they are invariably bred. If they did 

 not do so, they in their earlier hours could not reach 

 the places wherein their food by suction lies ; of that 

 1 am fully convinced. I never knew the young in 

 number to exceed four, and when the young are so 

 carried from place to place, and put down at a given 

 spot, I think one old bird always remains with the 

 first that is so transported to see — the site being 

 strange — that it does not stray away. 



What an idle dream this is of mine, as to the 

 forest in the Royal state ! Away with every gentle 

 thought, and in the month of July let us take a 

 real glance at the condition of the New Forest 

 under the " New Forest Deer Removal Bill," a beau- 

 tifully worded clap-trap beneath which to perpetrate 

 the destruction of the innocent deer, and the most 

 cruel hardships on the country people. Against 

 this measure I presented while in my place in Par- 

 liament many memorials to the Crown signed by 

 magistrates, clergymen, farmers, and the labouring 

 poor, praying that the deer might be permitted to re- 

 main. The forest laws regarding the deer governed 

 the pasturage of other cattle, the time they were to be 

 turned out and taken in ; the rights of the deer also 



