WOODCOCK AND YOUNG 233 



the sweet bog myrtle or golden willow blushing in its rich 

 ferruginous buds, and the otherwise silent wild, rife with the 

 mellowed chant of birds. The turtle-dove, the wood-pigeon, 

 and the black-cock were murmuring their loves; while the 

 stately pheasant, giving his gleaming plumage to the sun, 

 crowed in reply to others of his kind, to dare a distant male to 

 approach his walk. 



What graceful faces peeped from out the gorse ! There 

 were the does in their sleek dappled summer coats, selecting the 

 most retired places whereon to " fall " their fawns ; while on 

 the more open lawns fed the bucks, their horns just up beneath 

 the velvet. And hark, the snipes as they wheel through the air, 

 like swifts upon the wing, make a curious bleating noise ; their 

 females are beneath, either with a late nest, their first nest 

 having been destroyed by some vermin that had escaped the 

 keeper's vigilance, or brooding over their funny-looking, prettily- 

 striped, and long-billed young ones. Ah, what ! is that a 

 wounded bird that has flown up from the low bushes beneath 

 yon woodman's feet, and fluttering for the space of twenty yards, 

 seems able to fly no farther, but lighting on a bare spot full in 

 sight, sits with extended wings, and shaking them as if in pain ? 

 That is a woodcock endeavouring to lead the intruder either 

 from its nest or young ones. No; it can't be that, there is 

 another bird just like it with its prey in its claws ; it has risen 

 and carried the bird it was eating some distance farther on. 

 That is no bird-of-prey, but the mate of the first woodcock, and 

 being with her young, and tending one of them in an exposed 

 situation, she has carried it to a place of safety. On looking at 

 the formation of a woodcock's feet, 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 beneath 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 convinced that the woodcocks carry their young to the 



