THE HAWKEYE ORNITHOLOGIST AND OOLOGIST. 



AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



(Philohela minor (Grnel.) ) 



BY WILL C. BROWNELL. 



fHE Woodcock is spread pretty general- 

 ly over the eastern part of the United 

 States, inhabiting, during the greater part 

 of its sojourn, the wet, low-lying marsh 

 lands where the soft, spongy nature of the 

 earth renders it easily penetrated by the 

 long, slender bill as it is thrust into the soil 

 in quest of the worms upon which the bird 

 mninly subsists. 



Later, in August, when the summer 

 rains have driven to the surface the well- 

 known anglers or fish-worm, the Woodcock 

 may be found in the uplands, in the corn- 

 fields, where the full grown stalks of corn 

 answer the same purpose as do the alders 

 and willows in the swale. 



Although tolerably plentiful in certain 

 localities it may be classed as one of our 

 rare birds, and were it not for its fame as a 

 game bird, it would remain in more or less 

 obscurity to the casual observer. 



During the breeding season, which oc- 

 curs shortly after their arrival from the 

 South early in April, when the puss-willows 

 and the mild, warm winds first foretell the 

 approach of coming summer, they resort to 

 borders of swamps and marshes where the 

 sloping bank, thickly over-grown with 

 black-briar and alders, offers protection 

 from foes and the elements, 



The nest is a very simple affair, merelv a 

 few dead leaves of the fern or native heath- 

 er arranged in any natural depression where 

 the brush is the thickest, or at the foot of 

 some favorite tussock of dead grass. 



The finding of a Woodcock's nest is a 

 very delicate nndei taking and will tax the 



patience of the collector greatly. So ex- 

 actly does the sitting bird resemble the 

 brown, dead leaves that surround her, that 

 the unpracticed eye will fail to discover 

 anything bird-like. The bird, so confi- 

 dent is she of remaining unseen, will often 

 allow you to touch her, only leaving the 

 nest and her eggs when forced by the hand 

 of the intruder. 



Usually four eggs are laid of a peculiar 

 shiny, oily appearance which characterizes 

 the eggs of some species of the waders. 

 The ground work is pale blue, spotted and 

 splashed with darker brown and lavender 

 and other tints less marked. The mark- 

 ings are scattered generally over the sur- 

 face of the shell, being somewhat smaller 

 at the pointed end. 



Invaiiably, they are arranged in the nest 

 with the small end pointing inward, form- 

 ing a cross. But one brood is raised in a 

 season. 



Whether the male lakes part in incuba- 

 ting or not, I am unable to say from obser- 

 vation — some writers affirm that they do. 



After the breeding season, during the 

 hot months of summer, the plumage of 

 both sexes is much lighter in color than in 

 the spring, and I am confident that the 

 bird moults before migrating northward as 

 their plumage is richest in color upon their 

 arrival with us. 



Lying close before the dog, they become 

 an easy victim to the sportsman, who can 

 mercilessly destroy in a few minutes the 

 whole colony that were reared with so 

 much patient toil, only to succumb to the 

 sportsman's gun. 



Late in November, when the cold winds 

 have cut the last remaining leaves from the 

 forest trees, the f rosts have rendered the 

 ground too hard to be probed, the Wood- 

 cock disappears only to return with the 

 soft winds and sunny skies of another 

 spring. 



