﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  or 
  three 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  had 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  woods, 
  and 
  almost 
  

   five 
  years 
  before, 
  a 
  couple 
  were 
  shot 
  just 
  before 
  St. 
  Swithin's 
  

   day; 
  but, 
  being 
  covered 
  with 
  fat, 
  it 
  was 
  evident 
  they 
  had 
  not 
  

   bred, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  1832 
  that 
  the 
  keeper 
  could 
  find 
  a 
  

   nest 
  or 
  young. 
  In 
  that 
  year, 
  however, 
  he 
  found 
  four 
  nests, 
  all 
  

   of 
  which 
  hatched 
  out. 
  

  

  The 
  article 
  winds 
  up 
  by 
  saying 
  that 
  ' 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  

   parent 
  birds 
  sought 
  this 
  spot 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  breeding, 
  as 
  they 
  

   must 
  have 
  arrived 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  from 
  other 
  localities 
  ; 
  for 
  those 
  

   who 
  shot 
  the 
  covers 
  till 
  February 
  declare 
  that 
  they 
  did 
  not 
  know 
  

   of 
  a 
  single 
  Woodcock 
  being 
  then 
  left 
  in 
  them 
  ; 
  and 
  had 
  there 
  been 
  

   two 
  or 
  three, 
  the 
  keeper 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  aware 
  of 
  it.' 
  

  

  Of 
  its 
  nesting 
  much 
  lower 
  down 
  the 
  straths, 
  and 
  closer 
  to 
  the 
  

   sea-level, 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  done 
  so 
  abundantly 
  when 
  

   Edward 
  wrote 
  of 
  his 
  district, 
  as 
  he 
  only 
  says 
  1 
  a 
  pair 
  or 
  two 
  were 
  

   known 
  to 
  have 
  bred.' 
  Since 
  then, 
  however, 
  as 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day, 
  

   the 
  birds 
  have 
  bred 
  regularly 
  and 
  plentifully, 
  even 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  sea, 
  

   as, 
  for 
  instance, 
  on 
  the 
  Bin 
  Hill 
  of 
  Cullen 
  and 
  the 
  Knock 
  of 
  

   Banff, 
  as 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  O. 
  Wilson 
  in 
  1888, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  

   now 
  be 
  looked 
  upon 
  as 
  an 
  abundant 
  and 
  still 
  increasing 
  breeding 
  

   species. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  more 
  recent 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Woodcock 
  in 
  Scotland, 
  and 
  

   in 
  our 
  area 
  in 
  particular, 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  almost 
  every 
  sports- 
  

   man 
  how 
  rapidly 
  they 
  have 
  increased 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  thirty 
  or 
  

   forty 
  years. 
  The 
  older 
  records 
  are 
  perhaps 
  the 
  more 
  interesting, 
  

   whilst 
  the 
  later 
  records 
  are 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  already 
  the 
  

   common 
  property 
  of 
  every 
  one 
  pretending 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  claim 
  of 
  

   sportsman 
  or 
  field-naturalist. 
  

  

  The 
  Woodcock 
  indeed 
  is 
  almost 
  universally 
  a 
  breeding 
  species, 
  

   often 
  in 
  the 
  least 
  likely 
  haunts 
  ; 
  witness 
  the 
  treeless 
  island 
  of 
  

   North 
  Uist, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Outer 
  Hebrides 
  (vide 
  Annals 
  of 
  Scot. 
  Nat. 
  

   Hist, 
  1892, 
  p. 
  73). 
  

  

  Along 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  odd 
  birds 
  are 
  occasionally 
  

   found 
  in 
  September, 
  but 
  these 
  are 
  probably 
  birds 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  

   reared 
  in 
  the 
  neighbouring 
  woods. 
  A 
  few 
  more 
  appear 
  in 
  October, 
  

   but 
  the 
  great 
  bulk 
  arrives 
  in 
  November. 
  As 
  elsewhere, 
  their 
  

   return 
  in 
  spring 
  here 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  easily 
  observed, 
  but 
  it 
  would 
  appear 
  

   that 
  the 
  first 
  or 
  second 
  week 
  in 
  March 
  is 
  the 
  usual 
  time 
  ; 
  as, 
  for 
  

   instance, 
  in 
  March 
  1891, 
  when 
  there 
  was 
  an 
  unusual 
  storm, 
  the 
  

  

  