186 PR^COCIAL GRALLATOEES — LIMICOL^K 



more steady ; but the bird is by that time usually out of reach, or only to be hit by 

 sportsmen of experiem^e and cool judgment. 



The eall-note of the Woodcock is a short quae]; : lait this is not often heard except 

 in tlie spring, when during the love-season the male is said to have what may be con- 

 sidered as its song. Toward dusk it mounts in the air, uttering peculiar whistling 

 notes, which are continued until a late hour in the evening ; and the same are some- 

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

 but the song is by some spoken of as a succession of cries, by others as a series of 

 whistling notes. Lewis mentions it as occurring in the morning, and only occasion- 

 ally at night. The Woodcock rises in the air by a kind of spiral motion to a con- 

 siderable height, uttering its notes from time to time, until, having gained a certain 

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

 confused and murmuring sounds. It then descends as rapidly as it rose, W^hen it 

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

 ing its head toward the earth and erecting its tail. These manoeuvres and this 

 song are only noticed in spring, and unquestionably are the love-song of the male 

 to his mate. 



The Woodcock breeds throughout the jMiddle and Northern States and the British 

 Provinces, In the winter it generally migrates to the Southern States; buc some 

 remain in the more favorable localities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, 

 and even occasionally as far north as Massacliusetts, Their migrations northward 

 begin in February ; and some of them pass the summer in the highlands of Georgia, 

 North Carolina, and Tennessee, where they are resident throughout the year, as they 

 are also in the sheltered cedar-swamps of New Jersey, where the springy ground is 

 never completely frozen. 



A few Woodcock breed in February and March, but generally this bird begins to 

 lay early in April. The nest is placed on the ground in a retired part of the woods, 

 frequently 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 Woodcock, when a week or ten days old, is covered 

 with down of a In-ownish -white color. "When taken it utters a long, clear, but feeble 

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

 The young bird when first hatched is not capable of active movement, and may be 

 very easily caught. This species is said to have frequently two broods in a season. 

 The feinale exliibits great ingenuity in her endeavors to conceal her young 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 these manoeuvres 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 said to resort in incredible numbers to 

 the narrow strip of low land which borders the Mississippi Kiver for a distance of 

 several hundred miles from its mouth. There it is impossible to hunt it in the usual 

 manner, and resort is had to what is called " fire-hunting." The sportsman, armed 

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

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

 carries on his head an open vessel supplied with burning pine-knots. The hunter 

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

 hat. The birds are seen sitting about on the ground, staring in dazed bewilderment, 

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



The '\^''oodcock is said by Lewis to be known to hunters by various local names in 



