404 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
labor with their wings, as they heavily flutter up, they as often 
fly off silently like an owl, stealing along close to the ground. 
They are usually found too upon very dry land holding no 
scent, where they come merely to rest, and upon which they 
have dropped without running about. If disturbed, however, 
they occasionally steal away from the dog on foot, running 
over the parched ground, and thus elude him altogether, or get 
up out of shot or unperceived. On this account, a pursuit of 
them at this time is unsatisfactory, requiring for a good bag 
hard fagging, thorough knowledge of the ground, great obser- 
vation and vigilance. 
In September, the Woodcock are again in better condition. 
They are now less capricious, and are more easily found, fre- 
quenting, for the most part, drier grounds. In October, the 
birds are not only in prime condition, but they afford to sports- 
men the most enjoyable and eagerly sought-for shooting. They 
are found again in localities which may easily be ascertained. 
The sportsman may always hope for the abundant sport which 
follows a flight, for it is in October that those remarkable 
movements of the birds occur. There is in flight-time an un- 
certainty as to when and where the birds may be found, which 
gives im the highest degree that element of chance, without 
which the sportsman’s life would lose half its charm. Every 
one must form his own theories from his own experience and 
knowledge of the grounds, but certain it is that sometimes the 
lucky or sagacions sportsman may reach a spot in which the 
birds are almost literally swarming. Suddenly and inexplicably 
the cover becomes full of them; then as mysteriously it be- 
comes vacant. One would suppose that birds apparently so 
feeble on the wing must perform these long journeys by short 
stages; but, though the Woodcock undoubtedly travel about 
much more actively than is commonly supposed from one part 
of a district to another, so that there are often local flights, 
yet it is well known that they very often appear simultaneously 
over wide areas. The writer himself has seen one in the gray 
of morning, a mile or two from land on the open ocean, flying 
in as if from sea. This bird was solitary, but in the afternoon 
