WOODCOCK. 7 



them out singly, and, raising its bill into the air, it ex- 

 tended upon it the whole length of the worm, and in this 

 way swallowed it smoothly, without any action of the 

 jaws. This whole operation was performed in an instant, 

 and the action of the Woodcock was so equal and im- 

 perceptible, that it seemed doing nothing : it never missed 

 its aim ; for this reason, and because it never plunged its 

 bill beyond the orifice of the nostrils, it was concluded 

 that the bird was directed to its food by smell." 



Woodcocks appear to leave this country by the same 

 route on which, as here mentioned, they have been ob- 

 served to come ; namely, our eastern coast. Mr. Wil- 

 liamson, in his remarks on birds in the vicinity of Scarbo- 

 rough, says, " good sport is sometimes gained at Wood- 

 cock-shooting in March, when from any cause these birds 

 are prevented continuing their journey northward. In one 

 or two instances a Woodcock has been seen here as late 

 as June." 



That some Woodcocks remain in this country almost 

 every season, and produce their young here, there are 

 many proofs, and that they are also very early breeders 

 seems equally certain. The young are usually hatched by 

 the end of March, or the beginning of April. In 1836, 

 Mr. Blyth saw two young Woodcocks on the 20th of 

 April. On the 22nd of April 1838, Mr. Gould exhibited 

 at the Zoological Society two young Woodcocks, appa- 

 rently three weeks old ; and I have in my collection a 

 young Woodcock five or six weeks old, which I bought on 

 the 23rd of April 1822, in the market at Orleans. 

 Scarcely a season passes that young Woodcocks are not 

 sent up to Leadenhall Market for sale, intended for the 

 table ; these, by my notes, have generally occurred in 

 May : the price about seven shillings each. In the Fifth 



