American Woodcock. 2r1 
Small companies, from four to six in number, start together 
upon the migratory tour. Low, swampy thickets invite 
their presence upon reaching their destination. Here they 
conceal themselves during the day, but when night has 
gathered dark they come out of their grassy retreats and 
wander about in quest of food. From the setting of the sun 
behind the western hills to the appearance of the first streaks 
of dawn in the east, they pursue their nocturnal rambles. 
Few persons have visited these birds in their accustomed 
haunts while foraging. Let me take the reader to some 
neighboring swamp, or by the side of some lonely woodland, 
which these birds delight to frequent. The utmost silence 
must be maintained, or they will be frightened away. While 
it will be difficult to see the creatures that have called us 
hither, yet we know they are not far away by the rustle they 
produce among the dry leaves, and by the peculiar notes 
they emit. Chipper, chip-per, chip may be heard from the 
right, and almost at the next instant it is varied to d/eat or 
bleat ta bleat ta, produced in the contrary direction, or off in 
the distance, showing that the authors of these sounds have 
changed their positions. While these birds have a habitual 
fondness for humid thickets, they not infrequently betake 
themselves to corn-fields and other cultivated tracts in close 
proximity, and even to elevated woods. 
For more than a fortnight after their arrival the sexes, 
though feeding in company, do not apparently manifest a 
disposition to assume conjugal relationship. The desire for 
food seems to outweigh every other consideration. The 
inclemency of the weather, and the coldness of the earth, 
may have much to do with holding the amatory forces in 
check. But when the opportune period arrives, which it 
does in the course of events, the sexes desist in a measure 
from their riotous living and give the nobler instincts of 
their being a chance to assert their power. The males are 
the first to feel the changes which are being wrought in their 
natures. For more than a week from the incipiency of this 
