160 WOODCOCKS AND SNIPES. 



December, tins same bird was shot in the same 

 wood where it had been captured in the preceding 

 February. 



That Woodcocks, however, can and do breed in 

 this country, is beyond a doubt; instances without 

 end have occurred; one of which alone we shall 

 notice, on account of a very curious circumstance 

 connected with it. 



The communication first appeared in a Scotch 

 newspaper, the Elgin Courier. In the month of 

 April, near Dornaway Castle, the seat of the Earl of 

 Moray, a Woodcock was flushed, which flew away 

 as if wounded. On a person, who was present, 

 remarking this to the gamekeeper, the latter obser- 

 ved, that the bird was not wounded, but was carry- 

 ing off a young one in her talons, and that no doubt 

 the nest was close at hand : this was found to be the 

 case, and two other young ones were discovered in 

 it, which, on being disturbed, ran off, uttering a 

 piping note. The keeper spoke very positively of 

 its being customary with the old birds to fly off 

 every morning and evening with the young ones, 

 to the nearest springs, and when they were fed, 

 they were conveyed back to the nest in a similar 

 manner. 



In the first edition of this work, w r e expressed 

 a doubt as to the correctness of the keeper's ac- 

 count, admitting only the possibility that it might 

 be true, from a knowledge that some other birds 

 were in the habit of transporting either their eggs 

 or their young, or both, when disturbed, to a place 

 of greater security; thus, at page 153, we have 

 instanced the case of the Ring-Dotterel, and we 



