64 VARIETIES OF SHOOTING. 



of the feather ; rump and upper tail coverts cliesnut brown, 

 tinged with grey and barred transversely with dark brown ; 

 tail feathers black above, tipped with pure dark grey ; chin, 

 very pale yellow brown ; neck in front, breast, and all the 

 under surface of the body wood brown, transversely barred 

 with dark brown, both shades on the under surface becoming 

 lighter in old birds; under wing coverts pale brown barred 

 with dark brown, under surface of the quill feathers dry 

 slate grey, the triangular markings yellowish grey ; under 

 surface of the tail feathers nearly black, tipped with delicate 

 snow white ; legs and toes livid brown, claws black. The 

 length of the bird is about fourteen and a half inches. The 

 females are larger than the males, and have the upper part 

 of the back more black, and the lower part of it more red 

 than in males. These latter have also a more grey fore- 

 head, and the chin white. The weight varies a good deal 

 according to the condition ; seven ounces is probably the 

 lowest weight, and twenty-seven ounces are recorded as 

 having been the weight of one killed in 1775, at Narborough, 

 on the authority of Lady Peyton, who saw it weighed. This 

 is quite exceptional, and sixteen or seventeen ounces are, 

 I believe, quite the outside weights. Woodcocks are occa- 

 sionally met with pied, and also of a buffer dirty white colour. 

 It is now generally admitted, that the woodcock carries her 

 young on her feet from her resting place to the feeding 

 ground. 



THE HAUNTS AND HABITS OP THE WOODCOCK. 



In the south of England it is useless to look for these birds 

 anywhere except in coverts, some of which are known to be 

 annually frequented by them, while in others they are rarely 

 met with. They prefer large woodlands with plenty of 

 brushwood, where they can be undisturbed, but are some- 

 times found in small coppices close to the habitations of man. 

 In the north they are sometimes to be seen in considerable 

 numbers in long heather, where, Mr. Campbell remarks, they 

 generally choose the shady side, the reverse being the case 

 in covert. The following observations on this subject are 

 from the pen of Mr. Campbell, as recorded in The Field of 



