BIRDS 375 



reliable data could be obtained, as keepers vary so much in the 

 interest which they take in such matters. Mr. Plenderleath, 

 the head keeper at Netherby, where the Woodcock is known to 

 have nested since 1844, has had a very large experience of 

 Woodcock and Woodcock nests. He told me in 1891 that the 

 Woodcock which breed at Netherby arrive on their breeding- 

 grounds in February, and pair off at the beginning of March. 

 At first he then sees them in pairs, but when the female begins 

 to sit he chiefly sees only single birds; after the young are 

 hatched, in April or May, the old birds unite ; when the time 

 comes for a second nest they are again seen singly. Birds have 

 greatly increased since he went to Netherby about 1865, but their 

 numbers are very unequal in different seasons. He discredits 

 the well-known fact that the Woodcock carries her young, 

 because he has never seen it. But there is not the least doubt 

 that the Woodcock often carries her young. It was vouched 

 for by the late Captain Kinsey Dover, a veteran sportsman- 

 naturalist, and can be proved by several witnesses still living in 

 the Lake district; for example, by my friend, Mr. C. F. 

 Archibald, or by Mr. Raine, the highly-respected head game- 

 keeper at Edenhall. As regards weight, Mr. F. P. Johnson 

 shot a 'Cock' of sixteen ounces near Brampton, Oct. 29, 1888, 

 and this is the finest that has been reported to me. It may 

 not be inappropriate to conclude with an extract from the 

 Carlisle Patriot of Nov. 5, 1841, instancing the fact that these 

 birds occasionally arrive in large flights on our western sea- 

 board : 'On Thursday week [Oct. 28] no less than twenty-six 

 Woodcock were shot in the neighbourhood of Workington. . . . 

 Woodcock have been usually numerous in the vicinity of Bootle 

 during the last week. No fewer than twelve and a half brace 

 of these birds were shot on Thursday week [Oct. 28] by Mr. 

 Walker of that town ; and four and a half brace were bagged 

 by the same gentleman on the following day. The birds were 

 remarkably fine, and averaged upwards of thirteen ounces 

 each.' 



