CHAPTER IX 



NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE 

 AMERICAN WOODCOCK 



WHEN the low damp swale has thawed and 

 there is but little chance of another snowfall, the 

 woodcock return from their winter quarters in the 

 north to their breeding grounds of the previous year. 

 As soon as the male bird has won a mate with his 

 extraordinary system of courtship, which consists 

 chiefly of spiral gyrations in mid-air, he, together 

 with his chosen partner, at once examines the 

 country for a favourable nesting site. This is an 

 important matter, and the selection shows how the 

 birds weigh the advantages of different likely places. 

 There are several points to be considered : first of 

 all, the actual site of the nest must be dry and in 

 the immediate vicinity of a good feeding ground, 

 but above all things must be considered the safety 

 of the nest from the many enemies that threaten 

 it. To insure this the clever birds depend not so 

 much upon the dense tangle of underbrush, which 

 one would naturally suppose to be the safest method 

 of protection, as upon the colouring of the material 

 with which the ground is strewn, for herein they 

 show their reliance on their own protective colour- 

 ing and marking which matches so nearly the dead 

 leaves, weeds, and sticks. The reason that the nest 

 is so seldom placed in the midst of a dense tangle 



