298 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



now have difficulty in securing 30 birds each fall; and I have little doubt 

 that in the State as a whole we have no more than i Woodcock where there 

 were 50 in i860. Woodcock still breed sparingly in all parts of the State, 

 and are fairly common on good grounds during a short period in October, 

 when the northern birds are migrating, or, "coming in," as the sportsmen 

 call it. 



Migration. This species sometimes appears in southern New York as 

 early as February 22, but usually arrives from the loth to the 15th of 

 March, and from one to two weeks later in the interior and northern dis- 

 tricts. There are very few reliable data before me, most records of "first 

 seen" being when nests with eggs were found. In the fall, northern wood- 

 cock arrive after the first sharp frosts in October, usually from the ist to 

 the 15th, and the last are seen from November ist to 20th, although stragglers 

 occasionally remain about warm springy places through December or even 

 throughout the winter in the southern parts of the State. 



Haunts and habits. The Woodcock is not by any means confined to 

 swampy ground, but often seems to delight in wooded slopes and hilltops. 

 Alder coverts along ponds and streams, rich bottom lands grown over with 

 willow, soft maple, elder and dogwood, low-lying cornfields, hill slopes 

 covered with low second growth of maple, hickory or oak, and the edges 

 of wooded swamps are its favorite haunts. Thick coverts and a moist 

 soil, well supplied with earth worms, are its delight. They do not thrive 

 on "sour bottoms" or where the soil has been flooded so long that the worms 

 are driven out. In upland coverts they often feed by searching under the 

 leaves, or on the worms that come out at night, but also travel considerable 

 distances at night to seek well known banquet grounds in the valley or 

 along the streams. When camping on the uplands, and when journeying 

 through the country at dusk, I have frequently seen woodcock darting 

 past on their foraging excursions. They migrate and feed at night. Dur- 

 ing the day the Woodcock sits quietly amid its coverts, or stands sleepily 

 at the edge of the swamp, or beside some path or opening in the woods, 

 his head drawn down upon his "shoulders" and his bill pointing downward, 

 apjxjaring more like a ball of brown leaves attached to a slender stick, than 



