92 The New York State College of Forestry 
58. American Woodcock. Philohela minor (Gmel.) 
My finding a little family of Woodcock on the Guest House 
premises was one of the pleasant experiences of my season in the 
Park. On June 10 I chanced on an adult Woodcock and three 
young just beginning to fly, in a little area of ferns and swamp 
just below the rim of the knoll bordering the lot on the east side. 
The adult fluttered out of the low shrubs as if injured, alighting 
in the open ferns near by, where she fluttered about and gradually 
drew nearer. One by one the juveniles fluttered up and dropped 
into the covert bordering the spot where they were flushed. The 
place was not more than a hundred feet from the traveled road to 
Johnsontown, and only about fifty feet from the front door of the 
Guest House. 
On the evening of June 25, while sitting in the bay window of 
the Guest House watching for the coming of the Whip-poor-will 
to his favorite rock, a Woodcock was seen on the ground, grubbing 
along a narrow strip of exposed soil where a section of water pipe 
had been unearthed that day by workmen. The half-grown Wood- 
cock tilted forward its compact body to probe for worms, elevating 
and expanding its short tail with each bending movement. The 
bird followed the straight line its full length, stopping to probe 
at suitable places. When he arrived at the end of the sodless line, 
near the bay window, he flew away over the yard toward the little 
swale where the family made its headquarters during the day. 
Through the remainder of the summer one or another of these birds 
was occasionally flushed in some part of the lot near the Guest 
House. 
59. Green Heron. Butorides virescens virescens (Linn.) 
The Green Heron is common in the Guest House neighborhood, 
on the shores of the lakes and ponds. A pair of these herons had 
headquarters in the woods margin of Little Long Pond near the 
boat landing of the Guest House, and the hoarse squawk character- 
istic of this little heron was heard regularly on the Guest House 
premises. The Green Heron is a member of the marsh association, 
living with the Red-winged Blackbird, Black Duck, and Maryland 
