IYL.T.S OF BIRD LIFE 
formances.. Seven times I watched him perform his stunt. He 
t^^^peared close to his mate (he must have induced her to 
leave her nest for a bite to eat), and with a whirr of wings they 
)Oth flew through the woods, heading for the swamp. 
had by this time slipped his sable cloak upon the 
land, and with no moon to guide me I had no little trouble in 
malting my way out of the place. The weird calling of a whip- 
fs. 
poorwill accompanied me on my way through the woods, but 
the rest of the voices of the night were strangely silent this 
Spring evening. 
I repeated my nocturnal call to the woodcock the follow¬ 
ing evening and again I witnessed the wonderful gyrations of 
the male bird, only that this time he uttered a soft cheeping 
sound as he glided horizontally to the ground. As on the pre¬ 
vious evening the female bird sat quietly on her eggs and ap- 
> 
parently remained indifferent to the marvelous performance 
of her consort. The show was repeated only; four times on this 
\ / 
occasion, whereupon the male flew out of the woods toward 
/ 1 — 
the swamp unaccompanied by his mate. I do not know the 
j J / 
reason why she did not leave her eggs this night. I watched her 
until it grew too dark to make further observations, and 
mmtk kk 
I left her she was sitting on her eggs. 
