182 
THE WOODCOCK. 
all disappear in the latter part of December. In that quar- 
ter of the Union they are scarcely in order for shooting 
before the latter end of J uly, or beginning of August ; but 
from this time to their departure ; they continue in good 
condition for the table. 
The springes or springers, set for Woodcocks in Europe, 
in places they are found to frequent by the evidence of their 
borings, &c., are commonly formed of an elastic stick, to 
which is fastened a horse-hair noose, put through a hole in 
a peg, fastened into the ground, to which a trigger is an- 
nexed : and, in order to compel the Woodcock to walk into 
the trap, an extended fence is made on each side, by small 
sticks, set up close enough to prevent the bird passing 
between them; these concentrate at the trap, so that in 
this funnel-shaped fence, the bird, in feeding, is made to 
pass through the narrow passage, and is almost to a cer- 
tainty caught by the legs. 
As the season advances, and food begins to fail, by reason 
of inclement and cold weather, the Woodcocks leave the 
interior ; and approaching the shelter of the sea-coast and 
the neighbouring marshes, they now become abundant, and 
are, at such times, late in autumn, killed in great numbers. 
These are also their assembling points previous to their 
southern migrations, which are performed in a desultory 
and irregular manner, their motions, as usual, being mostly 
nocturnal, or in the twilight ; and though many are now 
met with in the same low meadows and marshes, they are 
