WOODCOCK. 7 



The young are usually hatched about the middle of April, 

 or even by the end of March; Mr. Blyth saw two in the year 

 1836, on the 20th. of April; and on the 22nd. of April Mr. 

 Gould had a couple of young ones, apparently then three 

 weeks old. 



The nest is built in woods and plantations, among dry grass, 

 fern, or leaves, of which its structure is formed. It is loosely 

 put together, but is placed in some warm spot. 



The eggs are generally four in number. They require 

 seventeen days incubation: the hen bird sits very close. The 

 young run about as soon as hatched. 



Two broods are hatched in the year. 



Bewick thus well describes the general appearance of the 

 bird: 'The upper parts of the plumage are so marked, spotted, 

 barred, streaked, and variegated, that to describe them with 

 accuracy would be difficult and tedious. The colours, consisting 

 of black, white, grey, red, brown, rufous, and yellow, are so 

 disposed in rows, crossed and broken at intervals by lines and 

 marks of different shapes, that the whole seems to the eye, 

 at a little distance, blended together and confused, which makes 

 the bird appear exactly like the withered stalks and leaves 

 of ferns, sticks, moss, and grasses, which form the back ground 

 of the scenery by which it is sheltered in its moist and solitary 

 retreats,' 



Male; the weight varies to an extraordinary degree; it 

 ordinarily is from eleven to twelve ounces, but a young bird 

 of the year will in the autumn sometimes be found only to 

 weigh seven ounces, and one has been known only five ounces 

 and a half; it was shot the 10th. of December, 1832, at 

 Trebartha Hall, in Cornwall, the seat of F. H. Eodd, Esq. 

 Length, about one foot one inch and three quarters to one 

 foot two inches, or one foot two and a half; bill, pale reddish 

 brown, grey at the base, dark brown towards the tip, the tip 

 itself dusky; it is about three inches long, and furrowed nearly 

 the whole of its length: the upper mandible projects beyond 

 and turns over the lower one. From its base to the eye 

 proceeds a dark brown streak, the feathers on each side of 

 which are very pale in colour nearly white. Iris, dark brown, 

 large, prominent, and placed high up and far back in the head; 

 forehead, long, greyish brown in colour; sides of the head, 

 pale brown, spotted triangularly with dark brown; the crown 

 is flat; the feathers on the back of the neck and nape are 

 a mixture of three shades of brown, and divided into three 



