CHAPTER VIII. 



MINOR BRITISH GAME BIRDS. 



AT the time of the heaviest bird migrations in 

 autumn, vast flocks of woodcocks pitch on the 

 English coasts. They stay through the winter, 

 and in spring the majority again cross the wild 

 North Sea en -route to their northern breeding 

 haunts. The woodcock is a " shifting" species, 

 and just as any bird is erratic in its wanderings, 

 so it is interesting to naturalists. The British 

 Association is already on the track of the 

 " woodsnipe," as are several individual observers 

 in a more literal sense. There was a time when 

 the nesting of the woodcock in England was of 

 such rare occurrence as to be recorded in the 

 natural history journals. We now know that it 

 has bred in almost every English county, and 

 that the number of birds which remain in our 

 woods to breed is annually increasing. This fact 

 proves that the woodcock's habits are being 

 modified, and ornithologists have now to discover 

 the reasons of its extended range. 



