along the routes. Stops are at least 0.4 mile apart since 
"peents" can he heard for about 0.2 mile. "Flight songs" 
can be heard for a much greater distance. Counts of 2- 
minutes T duration are made once at the same stops each 
year. The number of different birds heard "peentihg" 
(and "flighting," if not heard "peenting") per route is 
the index of abundance for each route. 
Source of data 
During March, April, and May, 1964, cooperators in 20 
eastern and central States and 4 eastern Canadian Provinces 
made counts on 367 routes. Population change from 1963 to 
1964 was determined from counts made on 286 routes covered 
in both years (comparable routes). 
In the Eastern Region, 153 comparable routes were 
available for analysis (a decrease of 8 from 1963). For 
the Western Region, 133 comparable routes were covered 
(an increase of 15)• 
In addition to routes covered in both years, 36 new 
routes were run in the Eastern Region and 22 in the Western 
Region in 1964. These routes will strengthen the survey 
since they can be used to compare 1964 populations with 
those of 1965 * provided they are covered again next year. 
Method of analysis 
Survey data of previous years have been analyzed in 
two ways to yield indexes of woodcock abundance: The num¬ 
ber of woodcock heard per stop, and the number of woodcock 
heard per route. Although Robbins (Woodcock Newsletters: 
No. 1, 1958; No. 2, 1959) has shown that both values yield 
approximately the same results in terms of year-to-year 
changes in relative populations levels, the number of birds 
per route is believed preferable because the count for each 
route then is given weight in proportion to the number of 
woodcock present. The use of average number of birds per 
stop gives each route equal weight, even though some routes 
represent many more stops and much more habitat than others. 
Listening points are located in suitable breeding habitat. 
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