220 WOODCOCK BREEDING—CARRYING YOUNG. [PART II. 
The Island, in proportion to its size, affords: 
probably more than its share of Woodcocks. Al- 
though comparatively few of them remain to breed 
there, yet such an occurrence is by no means un- 
common. Indeed, I have scarcely ever known a 
summer pass by, without hearing of one or more 
of their nests. In April, 1834, a woodcock rose 
before a keeper of ours in such a way that he 
thought she was crippled, and consequently shot 
her. He however found, too late, that this im- 
perfect flight was assumed for the purpose of 
diverting his attention from her young ones, of 
which he discovered four by their “peeping,” and 
brought them up to the house. They might then 
have been about a fortnight old. We tried to rear 
them, and, from the readiness with which they fed 
on worms, &c. thought we might have succeeded. 
However, they unfortunately died one after the 
other, the last survivor only living about a fort- 
night. The fact of the Woodcock conveying its 
young from place to place in its claws seems to 
be now undoubtedly established. I know of two 
instances where this has been seen to occur. One 
of the persons who witnessed it is a keeper who 
told me he was close to the bird, and could not 
possibly have been mistaken. 
