l6 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



more than a collecting in favorite food localities of the 

 home-bred birds those which have spent the summer, 

 or been reared, in the neighborhood. 



The first true migratory movement of the wood- 

 cock usually follows a sharp frost early in October. 

 The birds are not gregarious, and for the most part 

 move singly; though two, three, and even four have 

 been seen flying together, and sometimes six or eight 

 may be started in succession from a single small piece 

 of cover. The migration is performed during the 

 night, though in dull, cloudy weather there is some 

 movement in the daytime. Their flight is low over the 

 fields. This low flight is swift, and the birds are often 

 killed by flying against telegraph wires, and some- 

 times dash themselves against buildings. 



In New York and New Jersey the woodcock may 

 almost be considered as resident, for in mild winters 

 a few birds are to be found late in December and 

 early in February. The bird does not seem especially 

 to dread the cold, but the freezing up of the ground 

 cuts off the supply of food, and so obliges it to move 

 southward. Often, however, in the coldest weather, 

 an old fat bird may be found about some warm spring 

 hole, where the ground never freezes; and here, if 

 undisturbed, it may remain all through the winter. 



The principal food of woodcock is the earth-worm, 

 though they also devour many insects which are to be 

 found in the damp situations which they affect, and 

 have been seen to catch butterflies. The "angle- 

 Worm/' however, is the main reliance of this species, 



