■t;k'^ a 



186 



I'lJ.KCoCIAl, (JIIAM.ATOKKS — I.IMICOLJ';. 



morp stoady; but the \nn\ is l)y tliiil time usuiilly (uit of vcacli, or only to be hit by 

 s|i()rtsni('n of cxpcriciicc iiiul coo! jiKlifinciit. 



'I'hc ciill-iiolc of tiic Woodcock is ii short ijiinck ; imt this is not often inward execjit 

 ill tiie s|iriuL;'. when dupin;;' tlie love-seasou the niah^ is said to liave wlial may be con- 

 siih'red as its soni;-. Towavd dusk it mounts in the air, utterin,^' peculiar wliistlint;' 

 notes, which are continued until a late hour in the eveniu^t;'; and the sauu' are sonic- 

 times heard in the early nioruing. This peculiarity is mentioned by .several writers; 

 imt tlie son;^' is liy some s]iokcii of as a siioccssion of cries, by otliers as a series ol' 

 wliistiin,!;' notes. I,ewis lueiitions it as occurriii!;' in the morniuL;', and only occasion- 

 ally at nii^iit. 'I'iie Woodcock rises in tlie air by a kind of spiral motion to a con- 

 siderable heip;ht, uttering its notes from time to tinu', until, having gained a certain 

 elevation, it circles aroiuid, in a wild and irregular manner, at the same time making 

 confused and murmuring sounds. It tiieii descends as rapidly as it rose. AVheii it 

 attempts to utter these notes on the ground, it seems to do .so with ditticulty, throw- 

 ing its liead toward the earth and erecting its tail. These nianauivres and this 

 song are only noticed in sjaing, and uiKiuestumably are the love-song of the male 

 to his mate. 



The Woodcock breeds throughout the ^liddle and Northern States and the lii'itish 

 Trovinces. In tlu> winter it geiii'rally migrates to the Southern States; but some 

 reuuiin in the more favorable hicalitios in rennsylvania, Mew .Fersey, and J)elaware, 

 and even occasionally as far north as JMassachusetts. Their migrations northward 

 begin in F(!bruary ; ami some of them pass the summer in the highlands of Georgia, 

 Ncu'tli Carolina, and Tennessi'e, where they are resident tliro\ighout tlie year, as they 

 are also in the slielt(>red eetlar-swamps of New dersoy, where the springy grt)und is 

 never coni|)letely i'rozen. 



A few A\'oodcock breed in I'ebruary iiud Afarch, but generally this bird begins to 

 lay early in April. The nest is idaced on th<' ground in a ivtired ])art of the woods, 

 frc([uently at the foot of an old stump, and is made of a few withered leaves and dry 

 grasses, thrown together without arrangement or care. The number of eggs is four, 

 or sometimes five. The young \\'oodcock, when a week or ten days old, is covered 

 with (h)\vn of a brownish white cidor. When taken it utters a long, (di'ar, but i'eeblc 

 jH'fj), not louder than the cry of a mouse. Its period of incubation is three weeks. 

 The young liird wlieii first hatched is not capable of active movement, and may be 

 very easily caught. Tliis s])ecies is said to have fre([Ut'ntly two broods in a season. 

 Tlie female exhiliits great ingenuity in her endeavors to conceal her ytmng and to 

 draw away intruders, fluttering over the ground, dragging her body heavily along, 

 as if wounded and incapable of flight, and then flying to a. short distance, repeat- 

 ing tiiese maiKeuvres until she has enticed her pursuers sufficiently far, when she 

 suddenly takes wing, and returns to her offspring by a circuitous route. 



During the winter months Woodcock are saiil to resort in incredible nund)ors to 

 the narrow strip of low land which borders tlie Mississippi IMver lor a distance of 

 several hundred miles from its mouth. There it is im])ossil)le to hunt it in the usual 

 manner, and resort is had to what is called '• flrc-huntiug." The sportsman, armed 

 with a double-barrelled gun, and wearing a broad-brimmed ]ialmctta hat, proceeds on 

 a foggy night to the marshes which are the resort of the "Woodcock. A stout negro 

 carries on his head an ojien ves,s(d supplied with burning i)ine-knots. The hunter 

 follows the torch-bearer, his eyes being jjrotected from the glare of the light by the 

 hat. The birds are seen sitting about on the ground, staring in da/ed bewilderment, 

 and are often killed in great numbers in this illegitiiuiite manner. 



The Woodcock is said by Lewis to be known to hunters by various local names in 



