May, 1893.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
79 
American Woodcock. 
The American Woodcock is very seldom 
found in the vicinity of Detroit now, but 
there are still a few swamps where they can 
be found. In one of these swamps about 
three miles from the city I first made my 
acquaintance with their nest. The swamp 
was a dense mass of brush and tall weeds 
on the northern side of Voight’s woods. On 
May 24, 1891, I started out here, hoping to 
collect a few sets of eggs, with my chum, Harry 
Allis. We had fair luck and were returning 
homeward when I started a female Wood- 
cock from nearly under my feet, and there 
was a nest containing two nearly full-fledged 
young. The nest was only a slight hollow, 
lined with fine grass. I hid a short distance 
off, and soon I heard the old bird chuckle 
and call to the young, much like the com- 
mon domestic hen does. The young crept 
out of the nest, and crept slowly away, hid- 
ing under the plants as they went. The 
next day, May 25, I went out alone to the 
swamp, and found two other nests contain- 
ing young; the first had three young who 
could fly a little, and the second two half- 
fledged young. I was feeling rather dis- 
couraged over the result, although I knew it 
was very late for them. Going on farther to 
a denser part of the swamp, I had seated 
dense swamp east of Highland Park. We 
had a good success, getting a set of four 
Myrtle Warblers, two Black-billed Cuckoos, 
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, etc. I started a 
Woodcock from a clump of bushes, and she 
circled around and around the place, and 
seemed very disinclined to leave. I searched 
carefully for the nest, but without success, 
although I am certain one was there. The 
Woodcock is a very wary bird, and you can 
seldom surprise them. In fact they usually 
surprise you by their sudden uprising and 
the peculiar noise made by their wings. 
The Woodcock is a summer resident here, 
arriving the latter part of March and staying 
till October. They are nocturnal and re- 
main in dense underbrush unless flushed. 
JS. H. Swales. 
Detroit, Michigan. O. & O. Vol. 18, May. 1893 p.79 
A Few Nests Collected at Cornwall, Vt. 
Spring-1880. O.H.Parkhill. 
Woodcock (Philohela minor). Collected May 
4 tli. The nest was situated in a small piece 
of hard woods, ten rods from a stream. It 
was a slight affair made hy hollowing out a 
place in the leaves, and contained four eggs 
nearly ready to hatch. The old bird allowed 
me to nearly tread upon her before she flew. 
O.&O, XIV, Oct. 1889 p 150 
myself on a hillock when I espied a nest 
containing four eggs in a clump of bushes 
under a small tree. The nest was composed 
of dried grass and leaves, and was quite a 
large structure. The eggs were very hand- 
some, being a creamy buff, dotted with red- 
dish brown, and were a trifle incubated. I 
felt so elated over my find that I just stood 
and looked at them for several minutes until 
my senses came back, and then I packed 
them carefully in my collecting box. On 
June 8th I went out again with J. Claire 
Wood, and we flushed several and Mr. Wood 
shot two. Since then the swamp has been 
burnt down and ploughed up. This was 
my first and only set of eggs. On June 1, 
1889, H. Allis and I went collecting in a 
