WOODCOCK. 
349 
was so rare, at least in the north of England, that he 
had some difficulty in procuring one from which to illus¬ 
trate his work. The Woodcock leaves us for Norway, a 
country where, during the breeding season, the climate is 
very similar to our own. It enjoys there, it is true, its 
range through boundless forests; but in these, it chooses 
those places for its nest from which the trees have been 
cut down, on the outskirts of the forest, and bordering 
upon the cultivated districts and the banks of rivers. 
Whilst there we had the pleasure of taking its eggs, which 
were placed upon the bare ground, under some brush¬ 
wood, and in a place from which the timber had been 
cleared, and in which the young spruce fir -trees were again 
springing. When wandering through those endless pine- 
woods, it was a very rare occurrence to raise a Woodcock 
during the day-time ; although in the evening, towards 
sunset, and for hours afterwards, numbers of them were 
constantly flying to and fro, over the trees of the forest, 
uttering a kind of chirping note. The Woodcock lays its 
eggs amongst the dry grass or dead leaves which form 
the surface of the woods and plantations which it fre¬ 
quents. It is an early breeder, frequently having young 
ones in the middle of April. The eggs do not vary 
much, except in contour: they have none of the pear- 
shaped character which distinguishes those of all the 
allied species; on the contrary, they are sometimes more 
remarkable for the roundness of their form. They are 
four in number. 
The following extract is from Mr. C. St. John's Wild 
Sports of the Highlands. “A Woodcocks nest with 
three eggs was brought to me to-day, 9tli of March. 
Two years ago a boy brought me a young Woodcock, 
nearly full grown and fledged, in the second week of 
April, the exact day I do not remember: reckoning from 
