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but not very commonly ; and he says that he has found the full complement of eggs from the 

 27th of March to the 29th of April, and adds that he does not believe that it ever raises two 

 broods in the season, at least in that locality. Professor Schlegel says that it is usually found 

 in Holland on passage, more numerous in the autumn than in the spring, rarely remains over 

 winter, and a few breed there. In Belgium it appears in October and November, and again in 

 February and March, a few breeding there ; and, Baron Fallon states, during mild winters not a 

 few remain throughout the whole of the cold season. In France it is tolerably common, chiefly 

 during passage ; and in Brittany it is extremely numerous in the autumn. According to Messrs. 

 Degland and Gerbe a few breed in the forests of Northern and Central France ; but M. Adrien 

 Lacroix says that it does not breed in the French Pyrenees, where it occurs regularly on passage 

 in October or November, and again in March. According to Professor Barboza du Bocage it is 

 common in Portugal ; and it is said to be abundant during the winter in many parts of Spain. 

 Colonel Irby says (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 177) that it is uncertain both in numbers and as to time of 

 arrival near Gibraltar; "in some seasons, as in 1873, it is tolerably plentiful, whereas in others, 

 as in the winter of 1871-72, it is very scarce." The earliest record of its arrival he gives is the 

 17th of October ; but very few, he adds, arrive until the middle of November. The latest noticed 

 was on the 8th of March ; but he has seen them in the Seville market on the 22nd of that month. 

 According to Salvadori it appears in Italy in October, and leaves in the early spring. Not many 

 remain over winter in Northern Italy ; but numbers winter in the south, in the Tuscan and Roman 

 marshes, in the Neapolitan States, Sardinia, and Sicily. A few breed in Upper Italy, in Liguria, 

 Lombardy, the Tyrol, and Piedmont. Mr. A. B. Brooke says that, though found in considerable 

 numbers in certain favourable localities in Sardinia, it is less numerous than it used to be ; and 

 Mr. C. Bygrave Wharton states that in Corsica it is common on the east, but not on the west 

 coast. Mr. C. A. Wright says (Ibis, 1864, p. 147) that, in Malta, in some years the Woodcock is 

 not uncommon on passage in October and November, and a few occasionally remain in winter ; 

 some are also occasionally shot in March. In Greece and the Ionian Islands the Woodcock 

 is a very common winter visitant ; and many English sportsmen visit those countries for Wood- 

 cock-shooting. Lord Lilford, who has been there several times, writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 340) as 

 follows :— " So much has been said and written concerning the abundance of this species in these 

 countries, that it is unnecessary for me to add to the mass of information already in print on the 

 subject; but a few words on my own experience may not be out of place here. That part of the 

 mainland which lies opposite to the island of Corfu, and which is usually called Albania, is, 

 properly speaking, Epirus, of which Joannina is the capital, Albania proper being the con- 

 tiguous province to the north. The country near the coast consists for the most part of rocky 

 hills of moderate elevation, thickly overgrown in most places with long grass, and various species 

 of evergreen scrub and thorn bushes. The valleys are marshy, cultivated in some parts, and in 

 others more or less covered with woods of alder, poplar, oak, plane, sycamore, willow, &c, and 

 in many places a thick undergrowth of blackthorn, briars, sedge, reeds, &c. ; the fields are all 

 dotted with patches of tamarisk, thorn, and briars, and intersected by numerous small streams. 

 The Woodcocks generally begin to arrive about the 10th of November, their numbers depending 

 on the state of the weather, and in a good season are found in abundance from that time till the 

 15th of March. I arrived at Corfu on the 24th of December, 1856 ; the weather was then, and 



