
or bare ground was exposed. Cover may be too dense or too sparse. Agri- 
cultural practices such as grazing, mowing, burning, draining and manner 
of harvesting crops altered the type and condition of cover. If the 
cover were tco dense, opening it up was beneficial; if it were in good 
condition or slightly sparse, any thinning effect was detrimental. 
Changes due to natural succession were often very rapide Some fields 
which contained ideal cover one winter were not suitable the next winter. 
Any deviation from the optimum cover was apt to result in a decrease 
in the number of birds using a field. 
Discussion 
The two factors which cause great variations in November population 
figures as shown in Table 1 are first, drought which is common in many 
years, and second, normally the population has not yet reached a peak by 
the end of the month. 
In 195) a mild period which began about the middle of January ex- 
tended into mid-February. As a result, woodcock began their northward 
migration early and were very scarce on the study areas by the latter 
part of January. In 1955 a cold wave swept into Louisiana in late Janu- 
ary and remained until the third week of February. Consequently spring 
migration was delayed with an unusual number of birds being present in 
the study areas in February. 
The December 1953 population was influenced by the prolonged drought 
which reduced the number of birds found on the study areas, while the 
high number observed per man hour in December 195 was attributed to the 
fact that more selectivity was used in determining which nights to hunt. 
January populations are generally rather stable. The high figure of 
8.23 birds per man hour reported for 195) was due to selectivity of nights 
plus the use of only expert help. 
Recommendations 
It is believed that a standardized procedure of checking woodcock on 
their nocturnal feeding sites would result in the obtaining of figures 
which would serve as a reliable index to the population of woodcock win- 
tering in the hardwood swamps surrounding Baton Rouge. the following 
recommendations are suggested as guides in making such a checks 
1. Choose fields with good cover which have been used by woodcock 
in previous years. 
2. Check fields at least three or more times at weekly intervals 
during wet-cloudy periods during the dark of the moon between December 15 
and January 25. 
3. Use the same experienced personnel each year. 
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