AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 1 55 



markable and grotesque actions ; the wooer struts around with 

 scraping wings and spread tail, an excellent miniature of the barn- 

 yard turkey gobbler, the female looking coy and willing the while. 

 The male now and then makes one of his remarkable perpendic- 

 ular flights twenty yards into the air, dropping immediately again to 

 her side. When the country north of New Jersey is visited in 

 backward seasons by one of the not unusual hard frosts, the eggs 

 or very young birds are destroyed in large numbers. In many in- 

 stances the old birds begin immediately to rear another brood. 

 On this account at times scarce fledged nestlings are killed in July. 

 The nest is placed on the ground, the old birds making very little 

 preparation for the reception of their eggs. The latter are four in 

 number, of a muddy white color, splashed and blotched with choco- 

 late. 



That careful observer and naturalist, Mr. Geo. A. Boardman, 

 lately in Florida, states the remarkable fact that Woodcock breed in 

 that State, and we have still more recent evidence to the same effect. 

 In both instances young birds fresh from the shell were secured. 

 It has been heretofore supposed that they never bred south of 

 Virginia. The English Woodcock Scolopax rusiicola, is accidental 

 in North America, and stragglers are occasionally secured along the 

 eastern coast; the last instance on record was in 1870, we believe. 



The Woodcock is perhaps the most highly prized of all our 

 game birds. This is owing in a great measure to his gamey 

 nature and solitary habits, the difficulty of securing a good bag 

 without work, and the skill required to kill the bird when flushed. 



It is with pleasure that we notice the efforts made by gentle- 

 men sportsmen of the country at large, in the direction of Wood 

 cock protection, and the prohibition of summer shooting. These 

 efforts have been attended with success in some parts of the 

 country, but until the law becomes universal, a great deal of its 

 usefulness is rendered nil. This subject is so trite, however, that 

 we need only touch it here in passing. 



Granting that Woodcock four years out of five are in condition 

 to be shot in July, how much better, how much more sportsman- 

 like, would it be to allow them to remain unmolested until autumn, 

 when no doubt can exist of their being in full plumage, strong and 

 vigorous on the wing, and without the cares of a family ? 



