BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 



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dents, it is one of the earliest of our birds to nest, sharing 

 honors in this respect with the prairie horned lark, bluebird, 

 killdeer and migrant shrike. 



The nesting site is most frequently chosen among bushes 

 and second growth in pastures or along the edge of the woods. 

 The nest is often placed at the root of a bush or beside a log 

 and is a mere depression in the ground lined with a few dry 

 leaves and grasses. The number of eggs in a nest is nearly 



From Photo by James Savage 



always four; on one occasion only did we see five, and the 

 complement is to be found the second week of April. The 

 eggs show considerable variation in size and color. They 

 measure from 1.47x1.12 to 1.65x1.33, and are "brownish clay- 

 color, more buffy or more grayish, with numberless chocolate 

 brown surface markings and stone gray shell spots." (Coues. ) 

 I found my first nest of the woodcock on high ground in 

 what has since become Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, April 

 1 6th, 1864, on the edge of a snowbank. The parent bird must 

 have been killed by an owl, as its feathers were lying near the 



