The .i\/\cfiir(ilLsf^' Coinpaidoii . 
itably carricMl on with tl)e study of hal)- 
its. 
How Woodcock Woo. 
Woodcock have certain [)eculiarities 
Don't think, however, that habits 
and formation are all there is to be 
studied. When you have a good col¬ 
lection of notes at your dis[)Osal, you 
are just ready to begin another branch 
of study, that of collecting and exam¬ 
ining the evideiices of reasoning ])ower 
you have collected. 
Gather together all the parallel cases 
and form 3 a)ur theory. Then, ever af¬ 
ter be on the watch for facts to sustain 
it. A few week’s experience will point 
out more suggestions than could be 
easil}’' enumerated. Let us now l<K)k 
to the moans of study. A gun is veiw 
necessary for held work, but is gener¬ 
ally out of the question in cities. The 
best substitute is a held glass. You 
can always remember a bird seen clear¬ 
ly through a held glass, and you will 
notice many odd ways that would have 
been lost had the bird been shot. Af¬ 
ter you have all the points of color and 
particular marking, etc., wdth tlie aid 
of a good text book, you can determine 
the species. 
To a beginner, birds so near alike as 
the Down\' and Hairy Woodpeckers,' 
might cause some trouble, but in time 
birds can be distinguished at first sight. 
In studying color trv and be in such 
a position as to give the bird or object 
a dark,back ground. In closing, I 
would say, alwa^^s keep a record of the 
notes 3 'ou take from da^' to da}'. Don’t 
omit a thing because von have noted 
it before, but always put it down.— 
Young Oologist. 
AYe would like our readers to con¬ 
tribute a little i%ore frech' to these 
columns, especial 1\' articles on ornitli- 
ology or (‘ntomologv. 
which endear them to the sportsman, 
as well as making them an interesting 
study to men of science. Their love- 
making is essentiallv theii’ own. Earlv 
in the spring the male l)ird, seeking a 
mate. re[)airs to some well-known cov¬ 
ert where the females congregate. It 
is just at sunset. All dav' long he has 
been industriously filling himself full 
of long, luscious w'orms, and as night¬ 
fall comes his bird thoughts turns to 
affairs more sentimental. When he 
reaches the parade ground he looks 
anxiousl v around, and if no suspicious 
noise jars on his sensitive ears he be¬ 
gins with a low, introductory overture. 
Then he grows impatient and utters 
loud, guttural bleatings, clucking just 
before each one. Then he struts up 
and down the mossv bank as if his pei‘- 
formance gave him intense satisfaction. 
Then he considers himself fairh' intro¬ 
duced, and taking wing, rises in the 
air, hying up in sj)iral cii'cles, each 
growing smaller as he ascends. Dur¬ 
ing this hight lie utters a low, sweet, 
cooing note. After sailing about in a 
series of aerial somersaults he sw'oops 
down to the spot of his starting. For 
hours he fools about, displaying his 
wing performances, until at last the 
female can no longer resist his antics, 
and throwing coquetiy, as Hamlet did 
the physic, to the dogs, she approaches 
with ruffled feather and dishevelled 
[ilumage. The two then meet and 
caress each other with every evidence 
of affection and all the b^'-plavs of love 
throwm in, and locking their long bills 
in each others grasp, as if too happy 
for earth, tluy rise straight in the air 
and ff v tar out of sight in the darkness. 
