told the tale of a newly hatched brood 

 of Woodcocks, I stood, seemingly mes- 

 merized for a moment, over what was 

 indeed a meager reward for my years 

 of search, but I had accomplished one 

 thing, which was the positive location 

 of its breeding grounds. There was 

 considerable satisfaction in this discov- 

 ery and I now longed for the approach 

 of another spring, in which I hoped to 

 be more successful. 



The following year, with a sixty miles 

 an hour gale blowing from the north- 

 east, I started on a typical March day 

 for the Woodcock reserves, as I called 

 them. When I entered the brush, how 

 I thrilled with the prospect of finding a 

 Woodcock's nest this time, before the' 

 eggs were hatched! I made a bee line 

 for the spot where last year's nest was 

 located, but saw no trace of bird life ex- 

 cept a few juncoes that were scratching 

 about in brush heaps. It seemed as if I 

 had examined every foot of ground in 

 the grove and was about to depart, when 

 a sudden wh-r-r-r-r-r caused me to leap 

 to a height that would do credit to a col- 

 lege athlete. This surprise was due to 

 the flushing of a Woodcock, which with 

 rapidly beating wings rose almost per- 

 pendicularly to a height of about ten 

 feet before starting off on a peculiar zig 

 zag course, only to travel a few yards 

 when she again dropped out of sight 

 amongst the willows. 



A thorough search failed to reveal 

 either nest or eggs. It was probably too 

 early. This place was revisited a week 

 later and although Mrs. Woodcock was 

 at home, a careful search of the premises 

 disclosed nothing, oologically speaking, 

 and this caused a little uneasiness on my 

 part. Was I to be outwitted again? At 

 the expiration of another week, I made 

 a third trip to the reserve. Several Wil- 

 son's snipes, near relatives of the Wood- 

 cock, flew from a pond as I neared the 

 grove. They were only migrants and 

 would probably travel hundreds of miles 

 before entertaining any thought of par- 

 ental duties. After foraging about in 

 the shrubbery, a Woodcock soon 

 flushed, and with renewed vigor the 



hunt commenced in earnest. Only a 

 few minutes elapsed before I was kneel- 

 ing over the four eggs, laid on a bed of 

 leaves. The eggs, as is characteristic 

 with the shore birds, were arranged 

 with their points toward a common cen- 

 ter. 



This nest was twenty-five yards dis- 

 tant from that of the previous year. 

 The eggs were fresh, highly polished, 

 with subdued markings of lilac and pale 

 brown about the larger half. The nest 

 and four eggs here described are shown 

 in the accompanying illustration. 



With the naturalist, it is the first 

 specimen of any variety that is the most 

 difficult to obtain. After this experience 

 with the Woodcock, to locate other nests 

 was a comparatively easy task, and be 

 fore the expiration of the month I had 

 the pleasure of examining seven differ- 

 ent nests. In two instances the incu- 

 bating bird sat very close, permitting 

 herself to be touched before leaving her 

 eggs. So closely do the birds harmonize 

 with their surroundings that they appear 

 to have great confidence in the protec- 

 tive coloration, and this combined with 

 the fact that they are preferably birds 

 of the night, rather than of the day, ac- 

 counts for their tame disposition. They 

 sit much closer on a bright day, than at 

 sun down or in early morn. 



The nest of three eggs which we il- 

 lustrate was found between two wagon 

 tracks bordering timber, during the lat-' 

 ter part of April and the eggs were per- 

 fectly fresh, although within fifty yards 

 of this nest, four young Woodcock had 

 just left their shells and the mother was 

 piloting them about among the under- 

 growth. These three eggs are heavily 

 dotted and spotted over the entire sur- 

 face with reddish brown and lilac. Both 

 the sets above described lack the conspic- 

 uous red blotches, which occur on many 

 the "black sheep" of his family. 



The Woodcock is an extremely inter- 

 esting bird and possesses so many indi- 

 vidual traits and peculiarities, which disr 

 tinguish him from other members of the 

 Snipe tribe, that he may be justly termed 

 the "black sheep" of his family. 



Gerard Alan A'bbott. 



173 



