CHAPTER XIII. 
THE WOODCOCK. 
Its various names—Nests and eggs—Grotesque wooers—Mode of carry- 
ing the young—Dutiful mothers—Methcd of transporting the 
young—Gourmands—Haunts—The lazy season—Cocker spaniels— 
Charges for a gun—Fire-hunting in the Southern States—Best 
month for shooting woodcock—The moulting period—Frequent 
cornfields in September—How to cook woodcock. 
The woodcock (Philohela minor), which is also known 
as the woodsnipe and the bog-sucker, is smaller than its 
European congener, the adult males seldom averaging 
over eight ounces in weight. The upper portions of the 
woodcock are gray, brown, black, and russet, and the 
lower reddish-brown. The mating season opens in April, 
soon after the birds return from the south, and reaches 
its climax in two or three weeks. The males are ardent 
and grotesque wooers, for they strut before the females 
with their tails spread out, and their rigid wings sweep- 
ing the ground, like so many miniature turkey cocks. 
After strutting for awhile, they rise spirally into the air 
to a height of two or three hundred feet, then drop like 
a rocket beside the hens, and playfully dart at them with 
their bills extended. They are very active with voice and 
wing on moonlit nights, for they serenade the females 
most persistently, though their song is anything but 
melodious, 1t being a hollow, ringing sound of zisb zisb. 
When the hen is ready to lay, she builds a nest of grass 
and leaves on the ground beside a shrub, log, or tussock, 
and often conceals it with sedges or “‘ brush” to protect 
it against enemies. She then deposits her eggs, which 
are generally confined to four in number, though she oc- 
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