1892
Oct. 22
Concord, Massachusetts.
Mass.
Concord.- Clear with strong west wind & very warm for
the season.
  Shooting with Melvin & Robbins meeting them near
the Parker Lot at 8.30 A.M. They had beaten
the Parker Lot & killed a Woodcock there before I arrived.
Finding nothing in the Woodcock Hole we crossed the
hill to Braybrooks where I started & shot a Woodcock.
South of the road in the swamp the dogs struck the
track of Quail & "Dandy" at length found them. Before
Melvin could get near, however, they rose. We followed
on through the woods and flushed six or eight. Although
scarce half grown they were as sly as Partridges and
rose invariably before the dogs could get near them.
Melvin shot one of them. We then went back &
found ten or a dozen full-grown Quail lying within
a few yards of where the small birds were first started.
I shot one of these large birds & Robbins another.
The latter also killed a Woodcock.
  After eating lunch by the roadside we drove north
to beyond Carlisle & beat a large tract of birches
which I have never visited before. I shot a large
Woodcock here. It behaved very curiously standing erect
on the top of a mossy mound in an opening where
it was so conspicuous an object that it caught my
eye the moment I looked that way. It did not
squat when my dog ran past within a few yards
nor when I approached within ten yards but
merely stood there moving its head about & ruffling
its feathers as a Robin might have done. At length
it gave a series of ducking motions & flew in the
[margin]Strange
behavior of a
Woodcock[/margin]