64 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
in the full enjoyment of their evening flight. While thus engaged they 
sometimes utter a very faint cry, slightly resembling the cry of the Snipe, 
but more musical. Our visits to the forest have sometimes taken place 
during the summer months, after the young birds had left the nest; but on 
rare occasions, in the month of April—the earliest period at which we have 
ever been there—we have disturbed Woodcocks by accidentally approaching 
their nest, and seen them run in a shuffiing manner for a few yards, and 
then take a short flight and settle again. At such times we invariably 
withdrew to a greater distance. It may perhaps be asked, why we did not 
pursue the investigation? but for many reasons I think the course we 
adopted ‘was the wisest, and certainly the most considerate. If we had 
examined the eggs or young birds ever so accurately we should have gained 
no fresh information on a subject already so well known, but should only 
have wasted time of much importance to our entomological pursuits, and in 
addition to this should have broken our promise to the keepers, that we 
would in every way avoid disturbing the game. Indeed this is a point that 
I would most strongly urge on all who visit Sherwood. Since the noble 
proprietors of the last remnants of the forest have so kindly instructed their 
gamekeepers not to interfere with anyone who is honestly in pursuit of 
Natural History, the very least that naturalists can do in return for such 
liberality is to abstain from penetrating the thickets and scaring their 
inhabitants, most especially during the breeding season. ‘The brood of 
Woodcocks in Sherwood Forest is of no small consequence to the game-list. 
I have myself been told by one of the keepers that he has known as many 
as 120 Woodcocks bagged in one day by only six guns, and that at all 
shooting parties these birds form an important item in the day’s sport. 
Let all naturalists bear this in mind, and, without some better reason than 
finding a Woodcock’s nest, confine their rambles to the more open glades of 
the forest. Our visits to Sherwood very seldom took place before the latter 
part of May, at which time young Woodcocks would be able to shift for 
themselves. Nevertheless | remember once having observed a Woodcock 
carrying, as we thought, something in its feet; but the daylight was failing 
at the time, and we fancied that we might have been deceived. In 
Sherwood Forest it would be unnecessary for the parent birds to transport 
their young to any distance in search of food. ‘The whole surface of the 
ground in the thickets is covered with decaying leaves, in the hollow places 
often to a great depth, and among these leaves worms and other small 
animals abound in countless numbers. ‘These are the proper food of the 
Woodcock, and the idea that Woodcocks and Snipes live by suction is, as 
Mr. Harting observes, a simple absurdity. The mistake doubtless arose 
from the fact that, in search of food, these birds will often plunge their long 
bills up to their eyes into soft ground. I have often seen spots positively 
houeycombed by their borings; but the true object of this is to find worms, 
—— en 
