THE AMERIOAN WOODCOCK. 189 
had been killed, but averred that several birds had pre- 
viously been in his possession, precisely similar to this 
in every respect. It is not a little remarkable that the 
same gentleman who saw this bird, and unhesitatingly 
pronounced it an European cock, was informed by a 
sporting friend that he had seen in Susquehanna county 
a cock, which he was satisfied must have measured 
twenty-five inches in extent, but which he unfortunately 
missed. There is likewise, at this time, in the city a 
skull and bill of a woodcock of very unusual dimensions, 
of which I am promised a sight, and which, from the 
description, I am well nigh convinced is of the European 
species. 
It is possible that these birds may have been brought 
over and kept in confinement, and subsequently escaped, 
and so become naturalized in America; and yet it is 
difficult to conceive that persons should have taken the 
trouble of preserving so stupid and uninteresting a bird 
as the woodcock in a cage, unless for the purpose of 
transporting them from one country to another in order 
to the introduction of new species. 
This might be done very easily with regard to some 
species, and with undoubted success ; and it has greatly 
surprised me that it has never been attempted with 
regard to our American woodcock, which might unques- 
tionably be naturalized in England with the greatest 
. facility; where it would, I have no doubt, multiply 
extraordinarily, and become one of the most numerous 
