FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



285 



WOODCOCK AT HOME. 



Currituck, N. C. 

 Editor Recreation: 



The woodcock story in March Recrea- 

 tion puts me in mind of a few little inci- 

 dents that have occurred in this county.. 

 Nearly all country people, either North 

 or South, call the large black woodpeckers 

 with red heads "woodcock"; while the 

 true woodcock is known under some other 

 name. Here they are locally "called "night- 

 pecks," and a little below here "bull 

 snipe." That is the reason Friend Sands 

 had them parboiled; they are better that 

 way. When I first came here I naturally 

 inquired about woodcock. I was promptly 

 informed that there were hundreds of them 

 and that they lived mostly on dead trees 

 in the woods. It was not until the next 

 spring that I found there were any true 

 woodcock here. In the spring and fall 

 we seem to have a regular fly of them, 

 and just between sunset and dark, or 

 early in the morning, it is possible to kill 

 one now and then. I had a fine dog when I 

 came here, but on only one occasion did I 

 ever find woodcock in the daytime. Wood- 

 cock here have 2 notes, or calls. Just 

 at evening, when he rises, he takes a long, 

 spiral flight and makes a noise something 

 like a person sucking his teeth. As soon 

 as he stops this noise he closes his wings 

 and drops like a ball to the ground, 

 usually to a low, wet place in a newly 

 ploughed field. He then walks around, 

 sticks his bill in the ground several times 

 and gives utterance to a long drawn 

 "peck." Hence his name, "nightpeck." 

 This cry he repeats at intervals as long; 

 as on the ground, but as soon as he rises 

 he uses the other note. 



I have heard that after dark they could 

 be fire-lighted, but can not say by actual 

 experience, though I should think it like- 

 ly. If disturbed while on the ground he 

 rises and flies in big circles, but when he 

 drops it is pretty sure to be nearly at the 

 spot he rose from. 



Nearly all our fields have swamp on 

 one or 2 sides of them and this makes kill- 

 ing woodcock extremely difficult. The 

 half light, the shadow from the pines and 

 their own dark plumage make it difficult 

 to see them. Unless a person can get 

 them against the sky or on the ground, 

 which is unsportsmanlike, the shooting is 

 practically guesswork. It is, however, 

 quite the best sport I have ever tried, 

 though I never did kill over 3 at a time, 

 and probably never got over a dozen 

 shots in an evening. 



The only time I ever saw any in the 

 daytime here, I was crossing a swamp with 

 Mr. Crain, an old time sportsman. Sud- 

 denly 3 woodcock rose at once. Mr. 

 Crain killed all 3 before I could shoot, 2 

 ' with one barrel and the third with the 



other. This reads rather like a fairy tale, 

 but I am now going to tell one that 

 sounds much more so. Late one evening 

 I was crossing a ploughed field and no- 

 ticed a woodcock on the ground. As I 

 had no gun with me I thought I would 

 see how close I could sneak to him. I 

 got up probably within 10 yards, when I 

 saw another in the next furrow. I picked 

 up a chunk to throw at him, and the 

 minute it struck near him the air was 

 full of woodcocks. There were at least 

 25 within 15 yards of where I was stand- 

 ing, and they got up nearly together. That 

 was more woodcocks* than I usually see in 

 a month, and I have never seen so many 

 together at one time before or since, nor 

 have I ever heard of anyone who has. 

 Where they go in the daytime has been a 

 puzzle to me for the last 5 years. I have 

 hunted the swamps thoroughly with good 

 dogs, but with the exception of the 3 

 killed by Mr. Crain have never seen one 

 in the daytime. 



A. S. Duane. 



THE MONGOLIAN PHEASANT OF OREGON. 



The prospects for fine fall shooting were 

 never brighter for the true sportsman than 

 at the present time. Heretofore the late 

 spring rains have spoiled so many nests 

 during the hatching season that we had 

 only varied luck in shooting, each fall. Last 

 spring was so mild that this fall bids fair 

 to be a record breaker for large numbers 

 of pheasants. 



The golden pheasant inhabits only the flat 

 farming country, and is never found in the 

 mountains. It would probably seem strange 

 to the average sportsman to be walking 

 across a stubble field and to have his dog 

 set a fine cock, to flush and kill it, and 

 then to have his dog bring him a game 

 bird of beautiful plumage, measuring over 

 30 inches from tip to tip. 



However, an. old cock will lead the 

 sportsman a merry chase for perhaps over 

 x /i of a mile before he can stop the bird. 

 As a general thing the young birds will lay 

 much better for the dog and furnish better 

 sport. The season opens October 1st and 

 continues until January 1st, and our laws 

 are strict in regard to our game birds dur- 

 ing the closed season. 



The birds are usually found in the stub- 

 ble fields, the tall swale grass, or in the ash 

 swales which run through the fields. 

 Sportsmen can generally get permission to 

 shoot on any farm by giving the farmer a 

 bird or 2 for the privilege. 



The male Mongolian pheasant is nearly 

 identical in appearance with the golden 

 pheasant, having a long tail and brilliant 

 plumage. The male often reaches a length 

 of 36 inches from the head to the tip of the 

 tail. The hen is a somber bird, somewhat 

 resembling a sage hen, but smaller and 



