THE WOODCOCK. 319 
failure so long as the discovery of the breeding haunts of the 
Woodcock, which was one of its chief objects, still remained 
unachieved. After two days’ stiff marching I pitched camp at 
a place called Kemo, at an elevation of some 10,000 feet over 
and against Namick, which is celebrated for its salt springs. 
“We were following up a huge wounded Presdytis schistaceus 
through a dense undergrowth of ringals, when a Woodcock 
rose close to us, dropping again almost immediately, and dis- 
appearing in the cover. A diligent search revealed the long- 
looked-for prize—four eggs, which were deposited ina slight 
depression in the damp soil, and embedded amongst a lot of 
wet leaves, the ¢hzz ends pointing znwards and downwards 
into the ground. 
“The eggs found (I could see they were hard-set), I told 
Triphook J had no intention of leaving the place without bag- 
ging the bird. It was raining heavily and bitterly cold with the 
thermometer down to 40°; but, fortunately for us, before we 
had had time to make ourselves comfortable under an adjoining 
tree, the bird flew back in a sort of semicircle, alighted, and ran 
on toher nest. No sooner down than she was off again, fright- 
ened, as I subsequently learnt, at one of our dogs, but which 
at first thought alarmed me not a little as I imagined she was 
removing her eggs. After having satisfied myself that my 
suspicions were unfounded, it was decided that, as I had done 
my duty in finding the nest, shooting the bird should devolve 
on Triphook, and right well he did it, considering all the dis- 
advantages which militate against having a snap shot in dense 
cover and in a thick mist. I never do anything but miss on 
such critical occasions; at any rate I would rather some one 
else made a ma// of it than myself. 
“The eggs were a most beautiful set ; in consequence of the 
advanced state of incubation it was a full month before they 
were made into good specimens; a week later and the chicks 
would have been hatched. They are far darker and redder than 
the usual run of Woodcocks’ eggs, all four resembling the second 
figure in Hewitson’s work, and in the character of their mark- 
ings they are not wzlike richly coloured specimens of some 
Terns’ eggs. They are remarkable for the roundness of their 
form, and in having none of the pyriform or pear-shaped charac- 
ter which distinguished the eggs of all the allied species.” 
Whether the Woodcock ever does remove its eggs, as has 
been asserted, or not, it certainly does carry its young about, 
one at a time, grasped between the two thighs and pressed 
against the lower part of the breast. 
English writers have all a good deal to say about the nidifi- 
cation of this species, which breeds occasionally almost through- 
out the British Isles. 
Hewitson says:—“The Woodcock lays its eggs amongst 
the dry grass or dead leaves which form the surface of the 
