WOODCOCK. 148 
WOODCOCK. 
ScoLopax Rusticuua, Linn. 
Pl. XXL, fig. 3. 
Geogr. distr.—Europe generally, breeding in the northern and 
central countries and wintering in the south; in Asia eastwards to 
Japan and southwards to Ceylon; N. Africa: in Great Britain it 
breeds almost everywhere, but not in any numbers. 
Food.—Worms and insects in various stages. 
Nest.—A mere depression. 
Position in which eggs are deposited.—Amongst dead leaves or dry 
grass in open places in woods. 
Number of eggs, 4. 
Time of nidification.—III. 
This species usually travels by night, and its flight is not 
unlike that of an owl, but when flying high it is said to 
move swiftly. Its journeys are taken either singly or in 
couples. Its presence in a wood is discovered by searching 
for a moist spot or spring round about which the large 
white excreta are at once noticeable. Its cry is hoarse, 
and has been likened to the croak of a frog. 
Mr. Harting informs me that the Woodcock breeds in 
England much more commonly than most persons sup- 
pose. Mr. T. Monk, of Lewes, some years since, was at 
considerable pains to obtain statistics as to the number of 
Woodcocks remaining to breed in the eastern division of 
Sussex ; and, extraordinary as it may appear, the conclu- 
sion he arrived at was to the effect that in seven districts 
of Kast Sussex, comprising twenty-one parishes, there were 
annually, on an average, from 150 to 200 nests of this 
bird. When flying over the woods just after dark the 
Woodcock is said to utter a shrill piping cry, although 
when flushed during the day-time it is mute. 
The eggs are laid in a warm and sheltered place upon 
dead oak or fern leaves, which, by their mere weight, they 
depress into a hollow. To blow a Woodcock’s egg with a 
small hole is, as I know to my cost, a task requiring both 
patience and perseverance, as the white is very gelatinous. 
