»54 THE WOODCOCK 



ot residence so far as to include the Orkney Islands, in which numer- 

 ous specimens have been obtained. It builds its nest of grass, in 

 the marshes or on the islands in the lakes, and lays four eggs. The 

 most marked habit of these birds seems to be that of alighting at 

 sea on beds of floating seaweed, and indifferently swimming about 

 in search of food, or running, with light and nimble pace, after the 

 manner of a Wagtail. They are often met with thus employed at 

 the distance of a hundred miles from land. They are described as 

 being exceedingly tame, talcing little notice of the vicinity of men, 

 and unaffected by the report of a gun. 



THE WOODCOCK 



SC6LOPAX RUSTfCOLA 



Back of the head barred transversely with dusky ; upper plumage mottled 

 with chestnut, yellow, ash, and black ; lower reddish yellow, with brown 

 zigzag lines ; quills barred on their outer web with rust-red and black ; 

 tail of twelve feathers tipped above with grey, below with silvery white; 

 bill flesh-colour ; feet livid. Length thirteen inches. Eggs dirty yellow, 

 blotched and spotted with brown and grey. 



The history of the Woodcock as a visitor in the British Isles is briefly 

 as follows : Woodcocks come to us from the south in autumn, the 

 earliest being annually observed about the twentieth of October. On 

 their first arrival, they are generally found to be in bad condition ; so 

 weak, in fact, that I recollect many instances of flights having 

 reached the coasts of Cornwall, only able to gain the land. Their 

 condition at these times is one of extreme exhaustion ; and they 

 become the prey, not only of the sportsman, but are knocked down 

 with a stick, or caught alive. In the course of a very few days 

 they are enabled to recruit their strength, when they make their 

 way inland. They have been known even to settle on the deck of 

 a ship at sea, in order to rest ; or actually to alight for a few moments 

 in the smooth water of the ship's wake. Their usual places of 

 resort by day are woods and coppices in hilly districts, whither they 

 repair for shelter and concealment. Disliking cold, they select, 

 in preference, the side of a valley which is least exposed to the wind ; 

 and though they never perch on a branch, they prefer the conceal- 

 ment afforded by trees to that of any other covert. There, crouch- 

 ing under a holly, or among briers and thorns, they spend the day 

 in inactivity, guarded from molestation by their stillness, and by 

 the rich brown tint of their plumage, which can hardly be distin- 

 guished from dead leaves. Their large prominent bead-like eyes 

 are alcr\e likely to betray them ; and this, it is said, is sometimes 



