526 BIRDS ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER 



when the first snowstorm came the bird had laid only three eggs 

 and had found difficulty in keeping on them for any great length 

 of time. The woodcock lives on worms from the soft marshy 

 ground, and, consequently could not remain a long time on the 

 eggs; or possibly the large amount of falling snow made the bird 

 continually shift her position, until by this constant moving, the 

 eggs were covered with snow. Then the next day the other egg 

 was deposited as before mentioned. After this the second snow- 

 fall occurred, which the bird could not withstand, and so finally 

 she deserted nest and eggs. We found several more nests in the 

 same way on that day, and in each case the eggs were found as 

 described. 



In the spring of 1908 we were fortunate in securing good 

 photographs of the woodcock, for in its breeding time this bird 

 loses its shyness. 



Having located a bird on the nest we first took a picture. 

 No disturbance had been made in the surroundings. Then my 

 son crept up toward the nest and cut away some twigs, dry grass 

 and herbage. After this he crept nearer and with a slender twig 

 moved the bill up and down, and, finally getting closer to the 

 bird, took hold of its bill with his fingers. Then the woodcock 

 flushed from the nest, exposing a fine set of four eggs. 



After a while we went on, and to our astonishment found a 

 pair of woodcock strutting around us, and not more than five or 

 ten feet away. They reminded us of a turkey cock as they went 

 along with heads erect, tails spread vertically, wings drooping 

 and bills pointing downward close to their breasts. We used 

 every effort to find their nest without success. What a differ- 

 ence in the fall of the year, when the sportsman is after them. 



The woodcock was formerly found in large numbers in the 

 vicinity of Buffalo, but of late years it has been getting scarcer 

 each season, and with the woodduck is regarded by some orni- 

 thologists as being doomed to early extermination. It is said 

 that the European woodcock, or woodsnipe, as it is there called, 

 is now rarely taken by gunners of the Old World. Reasons for 

 the diminishing number of woodcock are found in the cutting off 

 of the woods and the draining of their feeding grounds. But the 

 woodcock is the game bird par excellence, and the chief cause 

 of its growing scarcity is the persistence with which it is pursued 

 b}^ the sportsmen. 



