620 



6 



had been for some weeks, very stormy and unsettled ; heavy rains had turned the valleys into 

 lakes ; and every one told us that Woodcocks were not to be found. For some days the weather 

 was so bad that it was useless to attempt an expedition to the mainland, and we contented 

 ourselves with wandering about the beautiful arbutus coverts of the island, occasionally finding 

 a Snipe or two in the low grounds, and hearing of, but vei'y seldom seeing, a Woodcock. At 

 last we could stand it no longer, but sailed about 1 a.m. on the 5th of January from Corfu, and 

 on awaking about 7 a.m. found ourselves snugly anchored in the well-known bay of Butrinto. 

 We went ashore, and waded through about two miles of thorn covert, and had what appeared 

 to me very fair sport, till the rain came down in torrents, and drove us back to the yacht. We 

 were three guns ; and our bag at 1 p.m. contained twenty-one Woodcocks, two Snipes, one Water- 

 Rail, one Little Gull, one common Buzzard, one Marsh-Harrier, three Sparrow-Hawks, one Barred 

 Woodpecker, and one Red-crested Whistling Duck. My companions complained bitterly, saying 

 it was not worth the trouble of coming over for such a paltry bag, and vowing that they would 

 put up their guns till the weather improved. Now it struck me that the Woodcocks had been 

 flooded out of the wood which we had beaten, and would probably be found on the hills in 

 thicker covert, where they could avoid the drip of the trees ; and so it proved, as on the next 

 expedition in which I joined, on which occasion we were bent on the slaughter of wild boars and 

 Roedeer, we flushed great numbers of Woodcocks on the hill-side in the steepest places and most 

 impenetrable thickets. Forty to fifty couple of Woodcocks had been killed in November 1856, 

 on several occasions, by two guns. The weather improved about the beginning of February 1857, 

 and the Cocks came down again into the valleys, where we allowed them but little peace, and used 

 to bag from ten to fifteen couple frequently, till the end of March, when they left the country." 



In Southern Germany it is chiefly met with on passage, but occurs sparingly during winter, 

 and breeds in some parts of the country. Dr. Anton Fritsch says that it breeds near Prague, 

 and Lokaj received nestlings from Kuchelbad. Numbers are shot on the spring passage ; and in 

 1857 the total number recorded as having been killed amounted to 3575. Palliardi states that in 

 1827 as many as 1757 were shot on the Leitomischel estate alone. The late Mr. E. Seidensacher 

 informed me that it was not common near Cilli, in Styria, but he had reason to believe that a few 

 occasionally remain to breed there. It is found in Austria ; but I lack information as to whether 

 it breeds there. Messrs. Danford and Harvie-Brown say (Ibis, 1875, p. 423) that in Transylvania 

 it is " generally common. They come in March and April, and, remaining but a short time in 

 the low country, proceed to their breeding-places in the mountains. In September they descend, 

 the flight lasting till the beginning of November, a few remaining still later when the weather 

 is very open." Count Casimir Wodzicki records it as breeding commonly in the Carpathians 

 and the Tatra as high as the tree-growth extends ; and it is recorded as tolerably common in the 

 winter on the Southern Danube and in Turkey, but apparently does not remain to breed there- 

 in Southern Russia it is recorded as found chiefly on passage, and but few remain to breed ; and 

 in Asia Minor it is a tolerably common winter visitant. Canon Tristram met with it in Palestine ; 

 and Von Heuglin says that, though seen annually in Egypt, it is by means a common bird. In 

 March he met with it near Alexandria and Rosetta, and also near Cairo, where it frequents the 

 fields near the town. On the spring migration he never met with it in North-east Africa. It 

 winters in Algeria, where, Mr. Taczanowski says, it is common in the woods near the coast ; and 



