266 SHORE BIRDS 



and finding it finished we resumed our journey. I have 

 never seen so many woodcock before or since. They 

 had no doubt gathered from miles around, since the 

 country was for the most part thoroughly dried up. 



Nearly all writers mention the fact that the wood- 

 cock are often unknown to the farmers on whose lands 

 they reside, and Gurdon Trumbull says : " Many funny 

 stories are told of sportsmen being led far into the 

 woods by promises of good woodcock shooting, only 

 to find at the end of their journey that the wood- 

 peckers were referred to. I had a similar experience 

 within the year in one of the western counties of 

 Pennsylvania. I once shot a very large cock when 

 visiting a farmer in Southern Illinois but a short dis- 

 tance from his house. He expressed great surprise 

 upon seeing the bird, and said he had never seen one 

 before. We were shooting partridges and he was an 

 excellent shot, very fond of the sport, and spent much of 

 the time during the autumn shooting. I killed several 

 other woodcock during my visit, and could only ac- 

 count for his not knowing the birds by reason of the 

 fact that partridges were extremely abundant, and he 

 no doubt kept out of the wet places, finding an abund- 

 ance of birds on the stubble and in the dry wood- 

 lands. 



Forester tells us that, during the fall migration, as 

 rapidly as the woodcock are shot in the cover, new 

 birds will be found to take their places. He advises 

 the sportsman who has shot all the birds in a cover in 

 a day, to return the next, and says he will find the 

 cover restocked from day to day. He wonders at this 

 habit, but does not try to explain it. My opinion is, 



