EXAMPLE TO HUMAN FAMILY. 227 



Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine are their principal 

 breeding-places, although annually numbers take up 

 their temporary quarters in the middle States of the 

 Union. I have even heard of their nests being found in 

 Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama ; but these are 

 only stragglers, and unimportant, numerically, when 

 you compare them with those that are to be found in 

 their more northern retreats. 



The nest of the woodcock is very primitive com- 

 posed of grasses and leaves, placed in some secluded 

 spot near the root of a bush, or under the shelter of a 

 fallen log. They commence to lay early in April in 

 the State of New York, and sooner or later as they 

 happen to be further south or north ; four eggs are the 

 usual number, although occasionally five may be found. 

 These are about the size of the domestic pigeon's, 

 smooth, of a yellow clay colour, and prettily marked 

 with irregular patches of puce or brown. The young, 

 as soon as hatched, run about like the plover, snipe, 

 and the majority of waders, and at the age of four 

 weeks are able to fly. The mother bird, during the in- 

 fancy of her progeny, is a most attached and solicitous 

 parent, frequently permitting herself to be captured 

 rather than desert her oifspring. "What a beautiful 

 example the human family may frequently learn from 

 the insignificant inferior animals ! 



For shooting woodcock, a sport that nearly all 

 are partial to, I prefer the setter to the pointer, 

 for the reason that the former are better protected 

 by their thick coats from the thorns of the briars ; 

 again, I have found them less liable to become foot- 

 sore, with a stronger relish for hunting through damp, 

 and sometimes wet ground; besides, they are more 



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