THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 433 



away horizontally ; but many old sportsmen draw trigger 

 on the first clear sight of the bird. It is a safe rule, how- 

 ever, to never give the Woodcock much time, for to the 

 sportsman who hesitates — the game is lost. 



The "Woodcock is found in most portions of the Eastern 

 United States and in Canada. On Prince Edward Island 

 it is also quite abundant in some years, and I have made 

 fine bags there in the swamps and swales of the numerous 

 streams that traverse the island. 



It is one of the earliest of our spring arrivals ; appearing 

 in New England by March 10th, and sometimes much 

 earlier, even before February 25th. When it first arrives, 

 it is partially gregarious ; being found in small companies 

 of four or five, in the area of a few rods. It frequents low 

 swampy woods and thickets at this season, where during the 

 day it remains concealed, only moving about in search of 

 food in the night. 



It begins its nocturnal rambles by early twilight, and only 

 retires to its swamp at daybreak. If we stand, in the evening, 

 in the neighborhood of a swamp, or low tract of woods, we 

 sometimes hear two or three individuals moving about in the 

 undergrowth uttering their note, chipper, chip-per, chip, 

 sometimes varying it to Heat, or Heat ta, Heat ta ; or see them, 

 against the evening sky, flying rapidly from one swamp to 

 another. About the first week in April, after separating into 

 pairs, the Woodcocks begin their duties of incubation ; the 

 female gathers together a few leaves, on a slight elevation in 

 some meadow or swamp, and this forms the nest. I have no- 

 ticed that the locality most often selected is in a small bunch 

 of bushes, or small birches or alders, located sometimes in the 

 midst of a meadow. The eggs are usually four in number : 

 their ground color is a rich creamy drab, sometimes with a 

 slightly olive tint, and they are marked, more or less thickly, 

 with coarse and fine spots and blotches of two shades of brown 

 and obscure spots of lilac. They are less pyriform than the 

 eggs of any other birds in this group, being often almost 



