Imagine a juniper-covered hillside, sloping up toward the 
west, bordered laterally with swamp land and hardwood 
growth, with here and there a few evergreens, and you have 
the stage setting of our evening’s diversion. We oriented 
ourselves so that anything arising from the hillside, between 
us and the afterglow from the setting sun, would probably 
be seen, and seated ourselves down among the junipers to 
await developments. Our arrival had been timed so nicely 
that scarcely had the twinkling stars cut their path through 
the deepening dusk before the show was on. 
Our ears soon singled out from other noises, a weak, 
plaintive bleat, or “peent,” followed by a few seconds inter¬ 
val, then another and another, until, with almost noiseless 
flush, a bird sprang into the air to begin a series of ascend¬ 
ing circles, each succeeding one becoming smaller until the 
apex of the flight was accomplished, some two hundred feet 
above the ground. The return flight was a descending spiral, 
distinguished by a sprinkling through the twilight of the 
most delicious notes, sometimes single, often double, but 
mostly a triple-noted melody, that for clearness and purity 
has few rivals in the entire range of bird music. During 
the ascent, the bird was so attentive to its own activities 
as to pay apparently little attention to the observers, which 
fact was taken advantage of, by moving our positions to a 
point as close as possible to where the bird left the ground. 
On several occasions the performer was within a few feet 
of us, and could be plainly seen strutting about, fluttering 
its wings and uttering its peculiar “peent.” 
The ascents were made at intervals of from one to four 
or five minutes, and were continued for over an hour, to 
our great delight. This nuptial,, or flight song, of the 
American Woodcock is one of those rarely beautiful con¬ 
summations that Nature has reserved for the faithful, and 
must be seen to be appreciated. “Birds-eye” or “Old Five- 
Snipe” will pilot any who care to go next Spring. 
W. G. Fanning. 
58 
N 
