THE OOLOGIST 39 
ish, with numberless chocolate brown 
surface markings and stone-gray shell 
spets. (Coues). 
During the breeding 
soaring flight of the male bird is an 
interesting sight and one that compar- 
atively few observers have been priv- 
iledged to witness. Loitering in their 
favorite haunts at dusk one’s atten- 
ticn is first attracted by a rather harsh 
call note,—a sort of a squawk, uttered 
by the bird, while. on the wing. By 
season, the 
denly drops down in a zigzag course 
to the spot from which it started. 
It then struts for a few minutes and is 
off again on another flight. 
It requires an experienced eye to 
detect the brooding bird as its plum- 
age blends so naturally with the sur- 
rcundings. 
Sometimes the weather is very un- 
favorable for them as in the Spring 
of 1904, when we found the Woodcock 
in hard locality 
luck, In our from 
Woodcock 
going cautiously in the direction of 
the call, making advances only when 
the bird is in the air, it is possible to 
apprceach within a few feet of the spot 
from which it started and to which it 
will return after each flight. After 
sweeping along the ground for about 
forty yards, it ascends spirally into 
the air, until almost out of sight in the 
increasing darkness. It continues to 
soar for a short time and then sud- 
on Nest 
the frst to the thirteenth of April is 
usually the time to look for full sets 
of their eggs. That year was no ex- 
ception to the rule, although at the 
time referred to, we had been visited 
by a heavy snow storm which covered 
the ground to the depth of several 
inches. The snow had been partially 
melted by the sun, but froze hard 
during the ensuing night. Two days 
later another snow storm occurred. 
