OP NOEXHUMBEHLAND AND DUEHAM. 103 



buried. In the same year three hroods were found in Chopwell 

 "Woods, in the valley of the Derwent. I am indebted to Mr. 

 Isaac Clark for this information, from which it appears that the 

 'Woodcock is a pretty constant breeder in the neighbourhood of 

 the Tyne, and not by any means so uncommon as has been sup- 

 posed. Several other nests have occurred in ^Northumberland 

 and Durham. Between the years 1868 and 1872, seven nests 

 of the Woodcock were found on the banks of the Tyne, between 

 Dilston and Prudhoe, in April and May. In three of them the 

 young were hatched; four others had their full complement of 

 eggs. 



But a rather curious question arises. After the broods have 

 fairly flown, what becomes of these birds, both parents and young ? 

 are they ever seen during the summer and autumn months ? it 

 might be expected that they would remain in the neighbourhood 

 until the season of migration arrives, and that, as the birds from 

 the more northern latitudes make their appearance, those bred in 

 the district would take their departure southward. "Were this so 

 the birds would surely be seen. Do they, then, leave as soon as 

 the broods are able to use their wings ? This is certainly un- 

 likely. It is possible that they may be all shot off ; for, assum- 

 ing that the Woodcock is a mere migrant, no one allows a single 

 individual to escape if he has a chance of shooting it. I have 

 known a gamekeeper shoot a Woodcock, and, on picking it up, 

 find a brood of young lying at his feet. Perhaps the Act of 

 1872, for the preservation of birds, may be of service in respect 

 to this species. 



The Woodcock usually arrives on our coast singly or in small 

 detachments of two or three at a time. However, they occa- 

 sionally appear in considerable numbers. Mr. W. Allan, of Mars- 

 den Eock, shot, in October, 1865, thirty-one birds in one day. 



This species has the power of removing its young when dis- 

 turbed; it also carries its young from the nesting place to the 

 feeding ground. Mr. Charles St. John, who believed that the 

 young, when so carried, were held in the claws, states in his 

 "Pield Notes and Tour in Sutherland," p. 164, that "many 

 people doubt the fact of the Woodcock carrying her young, from 



