With regard to the Forest and St 
Woodcock is feeling with its bill vrhe 
it does not seem to me that it is at 
er< 
the well-known fact that sounds 
a 
mitted through the medium of the eran 
through the air, as can readily be pe 
ous body between the teeth. Waite 
ream editor's notion that the 
n it thrusts it into the mud, 
all certain, when one cons id- 
re much more reacily trans- 
lal bones than directly 
reeived if one holds a sonor 
r Faxon, letter of August 8, 
1889. 
Harry and I exchanged glances, 
aer’s countenances. 
“ Is there a train going toward Ph 
trry. 
“ Not until six o’clock a. m.” rep 
’‘Well, we will take that,” I repli 
We lit our cigars, and, with feelin: 
ait daylight and the morning tra 
aners would have been hard to tin 
>ught struck me that this was no ] 
wman a landlord, and that it wou 
circumstances would permit, sh 
ngaged him in conversation ; he d 
; ducking yarns, characteristic of 
5 rendezvous, to entice us to stay, 
d some trash ducks up on the ma 
■her and friends had remarked th 
thought as long as we were dowi; 
y, and if not successful we could t 
Ing ducks it was too soon, also, 
dge (a favorite sport) as they had 
s rivers yet. 
The term trash ducks, I subseque 
icies that fed on the marshes. 
We concluded to take his advice, 
played in getting ready after b 
eady been taken out of us — consi 
g off. Not a duck did we see on 
sek, and we were about turning b 
cks near the shore. 
1 Harry,” I remarked, “ paddle m 
t>t, then I am ready for home.” 
Now, Harry, be it known, was an 
1 on the Delaware. Slowly we i 
thin thirty-five yards I let them h: 
h they both keeled over. “ Now 
( >ut saying, when, “ thunder an 
t,ook there.’’ I did look. Black 
Hlards were getting up in every <j 
itinctively we shook hands, and h 
•and. Quietly we paddled our du 
silently and in whispers we laic 
* If these ducks act as they do I 
f e must drive them away, then v 
kirn, and I will show you some 
*1 see how the land lays, for there 
kt they are feeding in.” 
bhe tide was low and it had aln 
k si der able exertions we forced ou 
Stalls, the noise of which every 
e nch of mallards, black ducks, tea 
numerous little ponds. 
’"‘Let them go,” says Harry, “do 
it before night.-” Every now ai 
splendid chance but we restra 
8 We succeeded at last in driving 1 
“is no easy task as they were verj 
disturbed much. Selecting tv 
regained our boat, and discove' 
and that otherwise I have failed to make a respectable count. 
This I haye demonstrated to a certainty by hunting over the 
same grounds daily for weeks, and making large bags at times jdeocks requires a thorough knowl- 
described. There is one point that I should like to see dis- a this can only be acquired by long 
cussed : Do woodcocks move singly or in wisps, as the snipes? I peaking, ninety-nine sportsmen out 
am inclined to think the latter way the most plausable, and will bout this kind of hunting, and go 
relate of three different occasions that will uphold my theory. ) depending entirely on good luck 
Several years ago I heat over a corn-field and took out of it fifty- ’ • 
two birds— am satisfied I killed every bird in the field. The 
next morning I passed through again, and took out thirty-six 
more. In July, 1878, Mr. James Verner, of Pittsburg, Pa., and 
myself beat over a piece of ground in the Killbuck bottoms, and 
never saw a bird. The next morning Mr. Theo. Gray, of Alle- 
gheny, Pa., and myself beat over the same ground precisely, and 
.me, and nine times out of ten come 
■s, if a little judgment was used 
and surroundings, plenty of birds 
place and parallel with the P. F. 
own as the Big Ditch. This ditch 
>ank is used as a road, and is on 
her side are large corn-fields and 
before dinner bagged thirty-eight birds. Last July I beat over ,nd for two miles is, to all appear- 
a i a i. . . i • i. x. 1 V. 1 — , ,1 i ,1 m >*n l po n fnn+Vior n 1 • in -■ Fir 
a corn-field, and beat itthoroughly, but did not raise a feather. 
The next day Mr. A. L. Gardner, of Mt. Vernon, N. Y., and my- 
self went to this same field. I sent my red dog, Mack, into the 
field, and in less than five minutes, and about one hundred yards 
from where we stood, we counted five birds rise out of the corn 
that the dog put up. We got over into the corn, and in less than 
two hours we counted, I think, thirty-seven birds. Two days 
later Mr. Howard Eaton, of Pittsburg, and myself, on the same 
j ground, picked up the same number again. Should this notice 
come before any of the parties I have mentioned, if they 
will refresh their memories as to dates, they will see that the 
moon, os the Dutchman has it, was in the right sign, was right, 
i and as I have represented, dark. 
Another peculiarity of the woodcock is in locating its feeding- 
grounds. Some grounds are too hard, others too soft, some too wet or 
too sour, or something else that is objectionable. In corn-fields it 
depends altogether on the time the grounds are plowed up, and 
also a great deal on the soil. If the ground is wet when plowed, 
it becomes cloddy and hard, and they cannot bore, or rather the 
worms leave the surface. If moist and loose when plowed it 
holds its moisture until the corn is large enough to shade the 
ground, and then keeps moist all Summer. Here the birds can 
be found at any time after the corn is in tassel. The best fields 
or feeding grounds I have found are composed of a black or gray 
vegetable or sandy loam. Gravely or clay soil never holds the 
birds unless there is a wash in the field where the sediment 
lodges, and then only for a short time. An experienced hunter 
can tell at a glance over a field whether it holds birds or not. 
So accustomed have I become to locating birds that I can tell 
almost instantly if there are birds in a field by climbing onto a 
fence and looking around over the corn. I am now speaking of 
first and second bottom fields ; by observing the growth and color 
of the corn you can readily observe where the moist and good 
spots are. Here you will find the object of your search, 
leisurely boring away after his grub. I have seen it quoted by 
authorities that the woodcock feeds only at night. In this respect 
I would beg to differ. I have killed hundreds with worms in 
their bills, and of three different kinds — the common angle- 
worm, a long yellow worm with black head and feet, and a small 
striped worm of a brown or grayish color, similar to the yellow 
one mentioned. The yellow worm is to be found 
in rotten logs and under the bark of logs. The smaller one 
is frequently seen climbing around cob-webs. I will relate 
a circumstance that may be of some benefit to persons desiring^. f or 
information of woodcocks feeding. During last season three or ; y ear $9. 
four birds remained close to my house, near a spring. Around 
this spring were several large oak trees. A friend and myself 
were seated under these trees one evening; it was nearly dark 
when I saw one of the birds alight near one of the trees. It sat 
for a few moments very unconcerned, when it walked up to the 
root of the tree and began jumping against it. We watched it 
for a while, when 1 had a curiosity to see what it was doing. I 
soon found that about fifteen or eighteen inches from the ground 
there was quite a number of the last mentioned worms. I also 
noticed that a cob-web on the tree at this point stopped the 
worms on their upward course, and that the bird made the jumps 
| to catch them. 
and timber for woodcocks as there 
here is magnificent, but to find 
of the question. I have never 
d on this side of the ditch, while 
-y yards of the ditch, and for its 
nd, and bags from ten to forty 
the first freezing weather, after 
all disappear in a single night. In 
3. Mack, of Chicago, and myself, 
ew birds. We struck a corn-field, 
and so remarked to him. We 
such a getting out of woodcock I : 
eing late when we began shooting, 
ioD, it was necessary to hold close 
y we made the best of, and we 
plump birds. How many we left 
iberdid not seem diminished when 
"s first woodcock hunt, it was 
ig them. A bird would get up 
fact all around. His gun would 
one, and at last he would fail to 
birds,’’ he remarked, “ I don’t 
An hour’s drive brought us home, 
d loading shells for the morrow, 
ndred birds would be brought to 
tart was suggested and agreed 
ght, thinking of the good time 
During the night I heard a 
as of Mr. Mack’s bed-room. I 
it came from Mack himself, 
le of my birds.” He evidently 
had in the afternoon and of an 
id thief being no other than my 
: up all the birds he could and 
10 killed them. Morning came, 
after Mr. Mack’s one hundred 
gum-boots you don’t get a bird 
lat red thief Mack comes around 
11 cripple him.” Mr. Mack had 
during the night it had frozen 
e find the entire day, all having 
Killbuck. 
six months; 
for 
