OOLOGY, WITH NOTES ON THE BIRDS. 357 



through a dense undergrowth of Ringalls, when a Woodcock 

 rose close to us, dropping again almost immediately, and dis- 

 appearing in the cover. A diligent search revealed the long- 

 looked-for prize, four eggs, which were deposited in a slight 

 depression in the damp soil, and embedded amongst a lot of 

 wet leaves, the thin ends pointing inwards and downwards into 

 the ground. 



The eggs found (I could see they were hard-set), I told 

 Triphookl had no intention of leaving the place without bagging 

 the bird. It was raining heavily and bitterly cold with the 

 thermometer down to 40- ; but fortunately for us before we had 

 had time to make ourselves comfortable under an adjoining tree, 

 the bird flew back in a sort of semicircle, alighted, and ran on 

 to her nest. No sooner down than she was off again, frightened, 

 as I subsequently learnt, at one of our dogs, but which at first 

 thought alarmed me not a little as I imagined she was removing 

 her eggs.* After having satisfied myself that my suspicions 

 were unfounded, it was decided that, as I had done my duty 

 in finding the nest, shooting the bird should devolve on Triphook, 

 and right well he did it, considering all the disadvantages which 

 militate against having a snapshot in dense cover and in a thick 

 mist. I never do anything but miss on such critical occasions ; 

 at any rate I would rather some one else make a mull of it 

 than myself ! 



The eggs, as before mentioned, are a most beautiful set ; in 

 consequence of the advanced state of incubation it was a full 

 month before they were made into good specimens ; a week later 

 and the chicks would have been hatched. They are far darker 

 and redder than the usual run of Woodcocks' eggs, all four re- 

 sembling the second figure in Hewitson's work, and in the charac- 

 ter of their mailings they are not unlike richly coloured specimens 

 of some Tern's eggs. They are remarkable for the roundness 

 of their- form, and in having none of the pyriform or pear- 

 shaped character which distinguished the eggs of all the allied 

 species. 



Owing to the perplexing variations in the size, weight and 

 color of individual examples, I recorded the following from the 

 freshly killed bird : Length, 13* 2 ; wing, 7*5 ; tail from vent, 

 3 - 3 ; tarsus, 1'5 ; bill, 3"3. It will be seen that accord- 

 ing to the dimensions given both by Yarrell and Jerdou 

 the present specimen is a very small one ; and this, considering 

 that the females average larger than males, makes it all the more 

 remarkable. The distinguishing mark between the sexes of the 

 Woodcock, pointed out by the Revd. W r . T. Bree (" Loudon's 

 Mag. of Nat. History, " Vol. III., p. 147], viz., that "the front 



* I have undoubted proof of a wounded Esacvs recurvirostris lemovirg her eggs. 



