ii8 Bird -Lore 



little white tails; and from the opposite hill a Grasshopper Warbler reeled out 

 his challenge and was answered faintly from down the valley. 



We built a little shelter under a young oak with the loppings the wood- 

 cutters had left and we covered ourselves over and waited. The feathery arms 

 of the snow silently drifted through the trees while a light breeze stirred the 

 branches above us and as evening settled in we became part of the leaves and 

 the undergrowth. 



An Owl from a tall oak nearby called his hunger to the moon, and, spreading 

 his wings, he silently flew down through the trees to an old stump not five 

 yards away — motionless as a dead branch he stood, but nothing moved amongst 

 the dead brushwood, and presently he flew away down the valley on noiseless 

 wings. 



A little way down the hill was a moist patch of ground covered by a year's 

 growth of poplar. From time to time as we listened we could hear faintly 

 little sucking and whistling noises, as of some night-bird feeding; nothing 

 could be seen, for the valley bottom was hidden by thick shadows and the moon 

 had not yet risen, but presently there was the tiniest, light, high-pitched 

 scream amongst the trees higher up the valley, and again it sounded directly 

 behind us. The sound seemed to zig-zag between the trees, and suddenly a 

 little brown bird flicked through a gap in the trees. It passed on behind us to 

 the little marshy ground, for we could hear the peculiar croaking cry it made as 

 it circled amongst the trees. But barely had we had time to realize that it was 

 a Woodcock flying to its feeding-grounds when again the little croaking cry 

 was heard, this time high above the trees, and, passing in a circle round us, a 

 Woodcock flew into the moonlight. Its little head turned anxiously from side 

 to side and his long beak showed out black in the pale light. It was a male 

 Woodcock searching for a mate — a male will fly to the breeding-haunts in a 

 park four or five times and will then fly off with his mate, who has been brooding 

 her eggs, to the feeding-grounds. 



The clearing seemed alive with Woodcocks zig-zagging through the trees, 

 for we were in the middle of the feeding-grounds. 



All at once, through the space between two huge leafless oaks, darted a pair 

 of Woodcocks, following each other and flickering between the open spaces. 

 They came straight for us — to our little shelter — and settled amongst the dead 

 leaves at our feet. Such neat and trim little birds they were, with the snow- 

 flakes drifting past them and melting as soon as they touched their backs! One 

 little fellow had evidently seen us, as he strutted about, for his protruding eyes 

 were full of fear and mistrust. They whistled to each other and presently 

 they flew off to the little marsh down the valley, their peculiar croaking cry 

 getting fainter and fainter as they disappeared in the dense shadows. 



We rose, all stiff and aching, from our bed of leaves — not an animal stirred — - 

 and, as the frosty night settled in, we found our way over the boundary wall 

 to our camp on the hillside — a hungry vixen screamed as we lay by the fire and 



