WHITE AND PIED WOODCOCKS 293 



curiosity, was sent to an Edinburgh bird-stuffer for 

 preservation. My informant wrote: "It would 

 interest me and several of my friends very much if 

 you would kindly tell me in what books or papers I 

 could find mention of other white Woodcocks 

 being killed or seen." 



If a careful search were made through back 

 numbers of the Field, the Zoologist, and other 

 journals devoted to such subjects, there is no doubt 

 that a number of records of white Woodcocks might 

 be brought to light. The same remark will apply 

 to such books as relate to county ornithology. It 

 will suffice to quote the following instances, of which 

 I have notes at hand : — 



Bewick states that a white Woodcock was seen 

 for three successive winters in Penrice Wood, near 

 Penrice Castle, in Glamorganshire ; it was re- 

 peatedly flushed and shot at during that time, in 

 the very same place where it was first discovered ; 

 at last it was found dead with several others which 

 had perished by the severity of the weather in the 

 winter of 1793. This account, subsequently copied 

 by Montagu in his Ornithological Dictionary , was 

 communicated to Bewick by Sir John Trevelyan, 

 Bart., on the authority of the Rev. Dr Hunt, and 

 proves not only the existence of a white Woodcock, 

 but also the truth of the assertion, that these birds 

 return to the same haunts year by year. 



The late Mr G. Dawson Rowley many years 

 ago showed me an oil painting of a white Wood- 

 cock, with the following inscription: "This very 

 remarkable Woodcock was shot by the Earl of 



