242 The Woodcock 



By early autumn the woodcock families have spread 

 out into the country; and here the cornfield is their 

 favorite resort, because of the moist condition of 

 the soil which supplies abundant food for them. 

 Later in the autumn, during October and November, 

 the woodcocks that have escaped the gunners migrate 

 to the Southern States, probably more on account of 

 the failing food supply than because of the cold weather. 



I wish to illustrate more fully the protective colora- 

 tion and the "apparent tameness " of the woodcock 

 by my experience in photographing one. I asked a 

 friend who lived in the country to notify me when he 

 found a woodcock nesting. About the twentieth of 

 April I received word that he had found one; so the 

 next day I joined him, and with a long-focus camera 

 and twelve plates we set out to photograph the wood- 

 cock. 



The nest was in a hedgerow between two fields 

 near a swamp, and as we neared the spot my friend 

 stepped forward to point out the sitting bird. But 

 although he had been there three times, it was several 

 minutes before he was able to find her, so closely 

 did her markings harmonize with her surroundings. 

 My friend has the experienced eye of a hunter, has 

 known the woodcock for forty years, and has seen 

 dozens of nests; so he was puzzled to know why it 



