238 SCOLOPACID.E. 



island is destitute of wood. They were remarkably scarce in the 

 winter of 1833-34, and had not been plentiful in the two 

 preceding years.* 



Mr. G. Jackson (gamekeeper to the Earl of Bantry at Glen- 

 gariff for the last ten years) states, that on the woodcocks' arrival 

 from their northern breeding-places they are always seen first on 

 the very western shores. He has invariably found them near 

 Dursey Island some days before they appeared inland. This fact 

 is well known to sportsmen living on the western coast of Ireland. 

 In the south-west of England likewise — in Devon and Cornwall — 

 woodcocks are said to appear on their autumnal flight long before 

 they are seen on the north of that country. t 



Many kinds of birds are driven, by severe weather, from Scot- 

 land across the Channel to the north of Ireland, and, among 

 others, the woodcock. When there is an appearance of a con- 

 tinued frost or snow, it is commonly remarked by sportsmen that 

 we shall have woodcocks from Scotland. During the great snow- 

 storm in the spring of 1827, I had fair evidence of the truth of 

 this remark. In beating some covers in the neighbourhood of 

 Belfast that had been most carefully gone over the day before 

 without a woodcock being sprung, these birds were met with 

 in unusual numbers ; and, from what I know of the habits of 

 the species, in connexion with the locality and the state of 

 the weather, I should certainly say they were not supplied 

 from other quarters in Ireland. The atmosphere (it may be 

 remarked, though without any reference to the woodcock) was in a 

 most singularly humid state that day, so much so as to render the 



killed : they remained for two or three days. Mr. Wilkinson, jun., British Vice- 

 Consul at Syra, stated to me when there, that woodcocks are never seen in that 

 island in autumn when the wind is southerly ; they appear from October to December 

 (but stop only for a day ) in great numbers, fifteen to twenty brace being often 

 killed by one person in a forenoon. A gentleman residing at Berlin has remarked 

 to me, that woodcocks are never found there in winter, and a friend at Giessen, 

 that they appear in numbers in March on their northward migration. 



* Some remarks on this subject will be found in the ' Wild Sports of the West,' 

 p. 298-302 ; edit. 1838. 



f Selby, vol. ii. p. 108. 



