OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 299 



it is ever a shy and cautious bird, and I have heard dozens of 

 men whose daily Uves have been spent in the woods and other 

 haunts of this species, remark, when questioned on the subject, 

 that they had never seen a Woodcock feeding or running about 

 in a purely voluntary manner. The occasions on which I have 

 seen Woodcocks stirring of their own free will c,ould easily be 

 counted on the fingers of one hand. I have seen odd birds 

 during a bright moonlight night whilst sitting near the swamps, 

 certainly not watching for them, wandering about probing the 

 mud with their long beaks, and looking very big and round and 

 plump in the uncertain light, and disappearing hke phantoms, as 

 it were, into the very ground the moment they were alarmed. I 

 remember one of these occasions was in the depth of winter, and 

 all the country-side was deep in snow, except the httle swamp 

 in question. The food of the Woodcock consists principally of 

 earth-worms and grubs, but beetles and other insects are eaten, 

 and vegetable fragments have been found in the bird's stomach. 

 It has also been known to eat shellfish. Its flight is quick, but 

 somewhat laboured, the bird carrying its long bill depressed. 

 Sometimes when flushed the Woodcock hurries off at first in a 

 very erratic manner, dipping and gliding or turning and twisting 

 from side to side ; and it is surprising how deftly the bird will 

 thread its way between the tree-trunks and network of branches. 

 It makes a very distinct whirr with its wings as it rises, and at the 

 same time occasionally utters a croaking sound, which I will not 

 attempt to syllable, although some naturalists have done so with 

 that of skaych. The Woodcock has been known to perch in 

 trees. 



Nidification. — As previously inferred, the breeding season 

 of the Woodcock is an early one. Even in the north of Scotland 

 its eggs have been taken on the gth of March ; a week earlier 

 still in the north of England. The majority of the eggs are laid 

 during April. The Snipes are birds remarkable for their peculiar 

 flight, and for the singular sounds they produce during the love 

 or pairing season. The Woodcock, although somewhat aberrant, 

 is not wanting in this curious performance. With the approach 

 of the pairing season the habits of the male undergo considerable 

 change. From being one of the shyest and most skulking of 



