WOODCOCK 23 



are favorable, the woodcock are killed during their 

 winter sojourn by firelighting. 



Audubon, in his "Ornithological Biographies," says 

 that in Louisiana the negroes commonly killed wood- 

 cock at night by firelighting and striking the birds with 

 a pole or long stick. 



A resident of Louisiana described in Forest and 

 Stream one method of this destruction, by which enor- 

 mous numbers must be killed. He says : 



"This bird is migratory in this country and does not 

 breed here at all, yet our State has protected him. If 

 the States of his nativity were to protect him entirely 

 for a few years, in conjunction with the protection 

 afforded by the Southern States, no doubt he would 

 soon become abundant. 



"The birds are night feeders. Their favorite feed- 

 ing grounds are old sedge fields burned off clean, and 

 pasture lands that have been pastured closely, but they 

 can also be found in the cotton, corn and cane fields. 

 They must be hunted on ground that is fairly clean 

 of weeds and grass, else they cannot be seen. 



"They are hunted with a torch. The primitive way 

 was a pine torch in an old-fashioned fire basket with a 

 long handle, extra fuel being carried in a sack, but the 

 torch has been superseded by the kerosene lamp. A 

 large lamp is placed in a tin frame with a glass front. 

 The lamp has a strong reflector behind it and should 

 illuminate the ground for fifty feet. It is carried by a 

 man who does no shooting, suspended by a strap 

 around his shoulders and about waist high. Walking 



