SCOLOPACIDJE. 403 



first arrival of these birds ; for although a few pairs 

 occasionally remain to breed on the Quantock and 

 Brendon Hills, and other similar situations, it must, 

 both here and in other counties in England, be 

 considered as decidedly migratory, by far the larger 

 portion arriving on the English coast about the 

 beginning of October, and, as I before remarked, the 

 first arrivals on our more northern and eastern 

 coasts are generally preceded by considerable num- 

 bers of Goldencrested Wrens. 



The nest appears generally to be placed under the 

 shelter of a small bush, or amongst roots and 

 brambles : it is a mere hole scratched in the ground 

 and sometimes lined with a few grasses. 



The food of the Woodcock consists mostly of the 

 common earth-worm and of various sorts of insects 

 and their larvae. Meyer adds that the fibres of roots 

 and bog-plants are often swallowed, but whether 

 taken as food or only accidentally with the other 

 food, does not appear certain. In its search for food, 

 which it mostly procures at night, the Woodcock 

 turns over the dead leaves and other decayed 

 matter, and also bores into moist boggy ground, 

 with its long beak, for worms. 



The Woodcock, it seems, may be kept in confine- 

 ment, and may then be fed on worms and bread and 

 milk. Before the days of percussion- caps and 

 breech-loaders, this bird seems usually to have been 

 trapped either by gins, snares or nets ; thus Fabian, 



