American Woodcock. 213 
none but the cruel collector would be likely to find, they 
hide away their nest. The structure is generally placed on 
the ground, at the foot of a bush or tussock, in the midst of 
small birches or alders, or on a decayed stump or prostrate 
log. In certain localities, it is snugly nestled in the midst of 
a meadow. It is by no means an elaborate affair, but merely 
consists of a few dried leaves or grasses which are scratched 
together by the female, and the work of a few brief hours at 
the most. j 
Being ready for occupancy, the female soon commences 
to deposit her eggs. These, to the number of three or 
four, are laid one at a time on consecutive days. Ovi- 
position, in the Southern States, commences in February or 
March, while in the northern limits of the bird’s range from 
the tenth to the fifteenth of April, seldom later. Both birds 
perform the labor of incubation, and so attentive are they to 
the business that it is an unusual occurrence to find both 
absent from the nest at the same time. When the female is 
sitting the male busies himself in attending to the demands 
of hunger; and when her turn has come the care of the nest 
is resigned to her noble, conscientious lord. So faithfully do 
they keep to the nest that nothing short of the most menac- 
ing danger will compel them to leave. The approach of a 
team or a pedestrian, even when within a few feet of its 
location, has not been known to startle them. But when 
the danger is quite imminent the sitting bird slips out of the 
nest and makes her way into the tall grasses, where, hidden 
from view, she becomes a silent and sorrowful witness of any 
disaster that may befall her home. Should no destruction 
be perpetrated, and the intruder has gone his way, she cau- 
tiously comes out of her place of concealment and resumes 
her labors. But she has learned a very impressive lesson, 
for on a second visit to the nest no bird is to be seen. 
Apprised of the coming of danger, she has slipped out in 
time to escape detection. Thus, patiently, persistently and 
unweariedly these faithful creatures apply themselves by 
