WOODCOCK. 233 



the syllable skaych. When fairly on the wing its flight is much slower 

 than that of the Common Snipe ; the bill is always pointed considerably 

 downwards, as though it were too heavy to be held out straight; the 

 wings are bent, and the general direction of the flight is straight, but 

 occasionally it is varied with curious twists and turnings. The Woodcock 

 seldom flies far, and as soon as it finds a suitable cover drops suddenly 

 into it, almost as if shot. Immediately on their arrival in this country 

 they sit very close and are very difficult to flush, and may be found 

 concealed under a hedge in a ditch, or even amongst turnips or long dry 

 grass. It is said that on migration they generally fly up- wind at a 

 considerable height, and that they have been seen to alight after an almost 

 perpendicular descent. 



The chief food of the Woodcock consists of earth-worms ; but small 

 beetles, grasshoppers, grass-seeds, and small vegetable fragments have 

 been found in its stomach. It has also been known to swallow small 

 shell-fish. The Woodcock appears to have certain routes to and from 

 its feeding-grounds; and so regularly does it traverse them, that nets 

 are often spread across its wonted path, in which numbers are caught. 

 It is a very voracious bird, and the quantity of worms it devours is 

 enormous. 



Woodcocks have been known to breed in the British Islands from time 

 immemorial; but it has generally been assumed that they do so more 

 often now than formerly. There is no evidence that this is the case. 

 The Woodcock's nest is more often heard of because so much more 

 attention is now paid to ornithology than was the case a hundred 

 years ago. 



The Woodcock does not drum like the Snipe ; but during the breeding- 

 season, like that bird, the male forgets for a time his skulking habits, and 

 flies backwards and forwards, uttering a peculiar note, which, though 

 unquestionably proceeding from the throat, must be regarded as analogous 

 to the drumming of the Snipe. This peculiar habit of the Woodcock is 

 described as " roding " *, and is indulged in early in the morning and late 

 in the evening in the pairing-season, sometimes before it reaches its 

 breeding-grounds, but more often after its arrival there. This roding 

 continues for about a quarter of an hour, during which two peculiar notes 

 are uttered, sometimes singly and sometimes one following the other. 

 One of these is a hollow, deep-sounding, somewhat lengthened note, which 

 Naumann represents as yurrk, and Ekstrom by orrt ; the other is a high, 

 sharp, short whistle, which the former naturalist represents as pseep, and 

 the latter as pisp. Should two males chance to meet whilst "roding," a 

 fight frequently takes place, and they chase each other with great rapidity 



* From the French " roder," to roam, to ramble, to rove, to wander, to walk, or move 

 about from place to place without any certain direction. 



