204 1HE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



woodcock resents disturbance, and in the islands on the 

 west coast of Scotland it is commonly supposed that a 

 longbill which has once heard the whistle of the lead takes 

 its departure on the following night. Certain it is that in 

 this locality no beat should be worked twice on consecu- 

 tive days under ordinary circumstances, and that at least 

 three days should be allowed before it is shot over again. 

 During severe weather, when the big flights arrive, this 

 rule is hardly applicable, for fresh birds cross the narrow 

 sea night after night, and take the places of those which 

 have gone. 



Sometimes, the first arrivals appear early in October, 

 but only if driven from their northern haunts by stress of 

 weather. These migrants arrive in an exhausted condition, 

 especially if a change of wind has rendered their progress 

 more laborious. A moonlight night is generally chosen 

 for the crossing, with a strong wind blowing from the 

 north-east to help them on their way. As a rule, the main 

 flights appear on the east coast at the end of the last month 

 in autumn and during the course of November, though a 

 few stray parties may turn up any time before the end 

 of January. After a short rest, varying in length according 

 to the feed obtained in the place where the flight has 

 pitched, they split up into small parties and scatter over 

 the mainland till the advance of winter drives them further 

 west to the coast-line and to the Emerald Isle. 



Other flights have frequently been noticed during 

 February on the west coast of Scotland, and these probably 

 consist of birds returning from Ireland, which rest for a 

 short period in Raasay, Skye, and elsewhere before finally 

 crossing Scotland en route for their Norwegian home. 



Woodcock, as already remarked, feed by night, and the 

 state of the weather at daybreak offers a sure guide as to 

 where they will be found during the following day, for, 

 except during severe frost, they seldom feed during day- 

 light, being, like others of their congeners, of a shy and 

 retiring nature. Thus, after a stormy morning 'cock may 

 be sought in the shelter of burns, pine and birch woods, 



